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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27265768">The Noble House of Lestrange</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spongefinger/pseuds/Spongefinger'>Spongefinger</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Battle of Hogwarts, Coming of Age, Dark Character, Dark Magic, Eventual Romance, F/M, Family Issues, Friendship, Hogwarts First Year, Hogwarts Seventh Year, Original Character(s), Post-Battle of Hogwarts, Pre-Hogwarts, Romance, Secrets, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Slytherin</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 02:13:37</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>76,031</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27265768</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spongefinger/pseuds/Spongefinger</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Raised by the Malfoys to behave as a pure-blood noble woman should, Cornelia Lestrange has had a privileged yet unhappy childhood. Pulled in 3 different directions by nature, nurture and love - will Cornelia follow in her mother's footsteps or fight to carve her own path? </p><p>*This story will not focus on Harry Potter et al, so if you're here for them you'd better slytherout*</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Harry Potter Favs, Harry Potter Fic</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Lighting the Flame</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Cornelia Lestrange lay on her stomach in front of a grand ornate fireplace, the wood in the grate glowing a deep red and the coolness of the room already stifling the weak warmth that emanated from it. The chill from the stone floor was seeping through her thickest winter coat that she was laying upon, and the room was dark, the only source of light being the embers of the fire that she stared into. She was partially hidden by an enormous oak dining table that stretched the length of the room, and she would only be seen if someone were to cross the room to the fireplace themselves. The tall double doors to the dining room were open, and constant gust of cool air blew through them.</p><p>The skin of her forearms were goose-pimpled where the sleeves of her dress pulled back, and a shiver was beginning to build in her spine, but she forced herself to remain perfectly still, gazing all the harder into the fireplace.</p><p>She had been laid in this spot for most of the evening, having run quietly into the room hours earlier and slid silently into a small space between the wall and a large cabinet beside the dining room doors. The sound of footsteps clattered through the hallway beyond the doors, and paused at the entrance to the room. A pale woman raised her hand, a wand held loosely in her slender fingers and cast a beam of light into the room. After peering quickly around the room and under the table, the woman rushed from with an angry sigh, the sound of her heels fading away further down the hallway.</p><p>Remaining still for a few more minutes, Cornelia finally stepped from behind the cabinet and scowled around the room. She was wearing the deep purple fur coat then and slid it off her shoulders, beelining for the then roaring flames in the fireplace. And that had been where she'd remained, as the already dim light from the grey skies outside darkened and the fire slowly died and the house fell silent around her. Now she was cold and knew she would soon have to seek out warmth and face the wrath of Aunt Cissy.</p><p>She tiptoed across the expansive marble hallway, her shallow breathing echoing across the snowy white expanse. If only she could make it to her bedroom, maybe if Aunt Cissy found her in bed 'sleeping' she might show some mercy. Cornelia knew it was a slim chance and unfortunately luck was not on her side.</p><p>She had made it halfway up the wide staircase, thankful for the carpeted runner up the middle that softened her footsteps, when the pale woman appeared silently at the top. Her gaze was as chilly as the house around them as she whipped her hand through the air. Cornelia had a moment of dread at the familiar sense of lightness that stripped her of all of her worries. She stepped quickly towards Aunt Cissy, blissfully unaware of the fury etched into her face, Cornelia's mind was blank apart from the vague sense that she needed to get up to Aunt Cissy as quickly as possible.</p><p>Only when Aunt Cissy had gripped the lace collar of her dress did the imperious curse drop and Cornelia realised she was eye to eye with the woman she had spent the evening trying to avoid. "And where have you been hiding?" Her voice was low and dangerous.</p><p>Cornelia pressed her lips tightly closed, beginning to struggle against the hold her aunt had her in. The slap of her Aunt's hand on her cheek echoed around the room and Cornelia fell still, resorting to glaring wordlessly into her aunt's icy blue eyes.</p><p>"You will tell me where you have been hiding."</p><p>The silence extended between the two and eventually, without even a blink, Aunt Cissy turned on her heel and dragged the child along behind her briskly. Cornelia's hardened expression broke and fear punctuated her face as she stared around, fearing where they were heading. Her dark eyes met a pair of blue eyes that peered around a slightly ajar door in the hallway. They were the same shade as Aunt Cissy's but their expression was much warmer, and they stared worriedly into hers until they rounded a corner.</p><p>Finally they reached a lone door in the far end of the hallway, and Aunt Cissy shoved Cornelia roughly inside. "You have forced me to do this Cornelia." She said before closing the door between them and locking it with a clunk.</p><p>Cornelia was plunged into darkness and panic. There were no windows in the tapestry room, and the fireplace was unlit. The result was freezing blackness that pressed in from all sides and seemed to whisper in her ears. Her breath came quick and shallow, the air dank and musty in her lungs, her senses spreading wearily through the room as she desperately tried to sense the spirits that she was convinced lived there.</p><p>She didn't dare to move and strained to hear over the wet thump of her racing heart. Something creaked in the far corner of the room and whatever bound her in place snapped. Cornelia threw herself towards the door and slammed her fists against it, her cries gaining in volume and rising in pitch until her throat was sore and she couldn't shout anymore. She knew Aunt Cissy would have placed a silencing spell on the other side of the door and that nobody would even be able to hear her cries and eventually she collapsed to the floor, drawing her knees to her chest and whimpering weakly, the tears creating a spreading damp patch on the front of her dress. She was even colder than she had been downstairs, leaving her coat on the floor of the dining room.</p><p>She closed her eyes and pictured the flames she had been staring into all evening, trying to imagine the warmth spreading across her skin. She focused on the crackle of the logs, the smell of the smoke, the orange glow burning behind her eyelids.</p><p>A strange whooshing noise suddenly swept through the room and startled Cornelia's eyes open wide, just in time to see all the candles in their brackets on the wall light themselves and the logs in the fireplace burst into flame, throwing everything in the room into a warm bright light.</p><p>Cornelia held her breath as she stared around the room, waiting for whoever it was that cast the spell to show themselves. Nothing moved other than the flames that danced welcomingly in the grate, and Cornelia slowly and shakily got to her feet and dragged herself towards the fire.</p><p>The room was eery even when lit what with the lifelike renditions of the Malfoy family woven into the wall, their eyes seeming to follow her as she moved through the room. The chaise longue was a crushed velvet the colour of blood and noise was deadened by the soft walls and the carpeted floor, almost like being underwater.</p><p>Cornelia hovered uncertainly by the fire, her nerves frayed from her recent panic attack. It took her a long time to calm down enough to pull the red lounger closer to the warmth and curl up on it. It wasn't the first time she had been banished to the tapestry room and she knew she was in for a long and lonely punishment. At least this time she had warmth and light… at least until the candles and logs in the fire burnt down.</p><p>Cornelia had lived with Aunt Cissy and Uncle Lucy for as long as she could remember. It hadn't been a happy childhood, despite being a privileged one. The traditions of being a member of a noble family had been drilled into her, and whilst her cousin, Draco, was pampered and praised, she was disciplined and constantly reminded of the debt she owed her guardians, very rarely experiencing warmth from her aunt and uncle.</p><p>She was apparently over spirited and strong headed, especially for a woman, and that needed to be 'squashed' as her aunt put it. Whilst Draco was allowed to meet friends, voice his opinion and, best of all, say "no", Cornelia was forced to remain polite, mild and still.</p><p>As it was, Cornelia was just a child and she didn't understand what it was that made her and Draco so different. She was stronger than Draco, both physically and emotionally, she was smarter than Draco, and she was quicker than Draco, and yet Draco was allowed to do what he wanted, Draco was free. It made her blood boil!</p><p>Not that it was Draco's fault. In fact, Draco and their house-elf Dobby were her only friends. Draco was there to comfort her when she was punished for racing with him around the grounds, his thin arms gently wrapping around her, his eyes filling with tears in place of her dry ones. When they argued, as children doubtless will, Draco was always the first to apologise, sneaking her treats from the kitchen. Draco would often cover for her, taking the blame if something got broken during their games and every now and then would have a stroke of courage and attempt to stand up to his parents when Cornelia was treated unfairly. Not that it would ever make any difference.</p><p>At that moment in time, a little further down the hall, Narcissa and Lucius lay in their kingsize quilted sheets, each holding a corner of a large golden framed oval mirror and staring into it. Narcissa's eyebrows were furrowed, a worried crease forming between them, whilst Lucius held a faint smirk on his lips. Instead of their reflections staring back at them through the glass, the mirror showed a brightly lit room with tapestries lining the walls. Curled up on a blood red chaise longue was a little girl with pale skin and a shock of dark curls.</p><p>"She is getting stronger." Murmured Narcissa and Lucius's smirk deepened.</p><p>"That she is." He replied. Narcissa glanced over at him upon hearing his tone and her eyes widened at his expression.</p><p>"It's dangerous Lucius!" She exclaimed but Lucius shook his head, meeting his wife's gaze.</p><p>"No darling, it would be dangerous if she were a weak, pathetic thing."</p><p>"For her perhaps, but what about us? If anyone were to suspect…"</p><p>"Everyone already knows she is Bella's child. They believe we are heroic for taking her in. You heard what Fudge said the other day." He stroked the crease that was still folded between her eyebrows and followed her nose down to her lips. She leant into his hand, her frown softening slightly. "You've taught her well my love."</p><p>"I do feel bad for being so hard on her." She whispered. "If Bella knew…"</p><p>Lucius waved his hand and the mirror disappeared, he leant in to kiss his wife's lips gently, whispering against them. "You know as well as I that Bella would be much…" he placed a quick peck on the left corner of her lips "much" another peck to her right "harder."</p><p>Something changed after that night Cornelia spent locked in the tapestry room. Upon opening the door the next morning and seeing the still lit candles and burning fire, Cornelia was sure that she was about to face another punishment. Instead Aunt Cissy entered the room quietly and approached Cornelia where she was still blinking sleep from her eyes on the couch. She sat primly beside her, crossing one ankle over the other elegantly and looked into Cornelia's face, her expression unreadable.</p><p>She gestured to the walls and the fire and Cornelia was surprised to see a wry smile forming on Aunt Cissy's lips. "So you're a witch now?"</p><p>Cornelia wasn't sure what the best response was. "I didn't mean to do it."</p><p>"I know. It's impressive that you managed to contain the fire to the candles and the fireplace. Well done."</p><p>Cornelia just stared at her Aunt, mouth hanging open. Her Aunt's gaze softened even more. She placed a hand on the slightly crushed curls on Cornelia's head and sighed. "Maybe it's time to start learning some magical theory with Draco. It won't be long before you leave for Hogwarts."</p><p>Cornelia wasn't sure what was going on but she nodded quickly before Aunt Cissy could change her mind.</p><p>"There are conditions of course." Cissy continued, withdrawing her hand back to her lap. "If I hear of any bad behaviour, such as running away, answering back or showing off, I will take you out of classes and find some other way of punishing you. Do you understand?"</p><p>"Yes Aunt Cissy." Cornelia agreed obediently.</p><p>"And we will continue with our etiquette classes in your spare time. Yes?"</p><p>Cornelia nodded less enthusiastically. Aunt Cissy raised a pointed eyebrow and Cornelia quickly chorused "Yes Aunt Cissy" again.</p><p>"Good. Well I shall see you at breakfast shortly, go and clean up."</p><p>Cornelia shot from her seat and went to run from the room before catching herself. She shot a quick look back at her aunt whose eyebrow was raised once more, and Cornelia continued to walk, slowly this time, from the room.</p><p>As soon as she was out of sight Cornelia shifted into overdrive and ran as fast and quietly as she could to Draco's room. She expertly slipped silently through the door, knowing Draco would still be asleep. Whilst Cornelia was expected to be washed and perfectly presentable for breakfast, Draco could rock up clearly having just rolled out of bed and pulling on whatever clothes were within reach.</p><p>His room was predictably dark and Cornelia could just make out a shape in the large four poster bed they often slept in together. She launched herself at the shape which groaned and squirmed beneath her. Finally after much wrestling she had wriggled beneath the sheets with him and pulled the covers over their heads.</p><p>"Guess what?" She whispered excitedly into their little cocoon, forehead to forehead with Draco. "What?" He croaked.</p><p>"I did magic last night!"</p><p>Draco's eyes shot open and his voice lost some of its sleepiness immediately. "No way! What did you do?" Then he looked troubled. "Was mother cross?"</p><p>"No she wasn't, she told me well done!" Cornelia was practically buzzing with excitement. "And she said I can start magic classes with you!"</p><p>Draco grabbed her hands and did a little celebration wriggle. "Tell me what you did!" He whispered over Cornelia's muffled giggles.</p><p>Cornelia relayed the story and Draco was sufficiently impressed. "But weren't you scared in the tapestry room all night?"</p><p>Cornelia shrugged, pretending to be blasé about the whole experience. "No, I'm too old to be scared of a room anymore." She lied.</p><p>Draco looked like he suspected she was lying and had just opened his mouth to express his suspicions when the delicate sounds of the breakfast bell echoed through the mansion. They both shared a horrified look before simultaneously leaping from the bed and dashing away to get ready. Cornelia sprinted from the room and into her own across the hall, pulling on a dress and tights that were already laid out on the bed, silently blessing Dobby who must have taken pity on her because of last night, and then running down the stairs to the breakfast room just behind Draco.</p><p>They skidded into the room to see Aunt Cissy and Uncle Lucy already seated and looking at them solemnly.</p><p>"I do not appreciate being made to wait for any meal." Lucius spoke slowly, carefully articulating every word so that the sentence seemed to poke sharply at the children.</p><p>"Sorry Father" and "Sorry Uncle Lucius" rang through the dining room.</p><p>The silence hung heavily in the air before Lucius sharply said "Sit."</p><p>The children waited for Dobby to push the chair beneath them and sat, both holding their breaths, daring to hope that would be the end of it. It seemed that breakfast was to continue as normal as Dobby began serving the food, until it came to serving Draco.</p><p>"Don't serve the children." Lucius cut in and both Draco and Cornelia's hearts dropped.</p><p>Draco stared bitterly at his plate throughout breakfast and Cornelia at her lap. She was hoping against hope that her being late to breakfast wouldn't cost her the magic lessons Aunt Cissy had promised.</p><p>Finally Lucius finished his meal and rose from the table. The rest of the family stood until he left the room. When they heard his study door close behind him Aunt Cissy turned to Cornelia. "Cornelia, did I or did I not tell you to go and get ready for breakfast when I saw you this morning?"</p><p>"You did Aunt Cissy."</p><p>"Why are you incapable of following such straight forward instructions?"</p><p>Cornelia resisted the urge to fidget uncomfortably, knowing it would only annoy Aunt Cissy further. "I'm sorry Aunt Cissy."</p><p>"You will stand there and will not move until lunch, do you understand?"</p><p>"Yes Aunt Cissy."</p><p>Narcissa proceeded to pull out her wand and draw a very tight circle that glowed white around Cornelia's feet where they stood on the ground. "If you move you will miss lunch and stand there until dinner." She said before sweeping from the room.</p><p>Draco remained behind, looking at her with the worried expression that haunted his eyes so often.</p><p>"Draco!" His mother called sharply from the hallway and Draco left, shooting sympathetic looks at her on his way out.</p><p>Cornelia looked down at the glowing circle around her feet and wondered what would happen if she stepped beyond it. Would it hurt? As she looked at the circle she weighed up whether it would be worth making a run for it again. If she hadn't been offered to join Draco in magical classes she would have seriously considered it, but now the price she would have to pay was too high.</p><p>It didn't take long before Cornelia was extremely bored, with nothing to look at other than the fields outside the window and the dining room itself. She also needed the toilet. On top of that her feet were starting to ache. She began to shift her weight from foot to foot, and then begun swinging her hips from side to side, and soon she got caught up seeing how far she could swing her hips without moving her feet at all. Of course the inevitable happened and she soon lost her balance, shuffling to the right slightly to catch herself.</p><p>Her heart shot into her mouth as her toe brushed the white circle which immediately turned a deep red. Horrorstruck she stared down at it, willing it to fade back to white and cursing herself for her stupidity. Her stomach was already grumbling angrily from missing breakfast and now she would have to wait until dinner! She didn't know if she could survive standing here that long! And what about the toilet? Would she burst and shrivel up simultaneously?</p><p>Cornelia waited, her heart skipping nervously and her palms sweating. After what seemed like forever she heard footsteps approaching and Aunt Cissy came into the dining room once again. She took one look at the red circle at her feet and grimaced before turning it back white again and moving to her seat at the table.</p><p>"Aunt Cissy?" Cornelia barely dared to whisper. Aunt Cissy ignored her so she repeated herself the tiniest shade louder. Aunty Cissy's eyes whipped to hers. "I need the toilet." She whispered, her face blushing in shame and embarrassment. Half of her expected Aunt Cissy to ignore her again and leave her to wet herself, so she was surprised when Aunt Cissy stood with a sigh and held out her hand to her.</p><p>She led her to the toilet and waited outside and then led her back to the dining room and her circle. Before she sat back down she waved her wand and the pain that had been building in Cornelia's feet and legs disappeared. Aunt Cissy didn't acknowledge her for the rest of lunch.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of The Noble House of Lestrange! Please feel free to write any questions or reviews and I'll try and get back to you in the notes of the next chapter.</p><p>I've got a great story planned for Cornelia so the first few chapters will be setting the scene. She won't have much involvement in Harry Potter et al's adventures or much interaction with them at all really seeing as she has her own shit going on, but she will be influencing Harry's life indirectly in the future! I'm gonna work really hard to make sure this isn't just a straight forward Mary Sue story for you all. </p><p>Until next time.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Falling From the Tree</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The next year passed in much the same manner. Cornelia faced the same level of strict discipline as ever before, whilst Draco was left to his own devices. The only difference being an increase in their education. They both started magical history classes together which consisted of in-depth studies of their family trees. Cornelia enjoyed these lessons which they took with Aunt Cissy, as she was finally able to find out as much as she liked about her mother and father. Whilst her Aunt and Uncle had never hidden the fact that her parents were in Azkaban, they had always refrained from telling her the full story. It had been a disturbing discovery to find out her mother had been locked away for both torturing two people into insanity as well as seeking out the Dark Lord with her husband and his brother. She had pored over pictures of her mother in particular, conflicted emotions of pride and disturbance at the similarity in their appearances.</p><p>Cornelia had inherited her mother's mass of black curls, her pointed chin and large dark eyes, although hers were substantially less hooded than her mothers. She thought her mother was beautiful, and she couldn't pair the scenario of her torturing someone with the images she saw. When she asked Aunt Cissy what she was like Cissy had replied "She was very clever and powerful. She also has a terrible temper, something I don't want you to repeat."</p><p>"Did the Longbottom's do something bad for her to torture them?"</p><p>Aunt Cissy had fixed her with a long calculating stare before answering slowly "They got in her way."</p><p>Cornelia had been too shocked to ask anymore, instead spending weeks chewing over this new information about her mother.</p><p>As well as magical history classes, Cornelia finally joined Draco in magical theory classes. It was during these lessons that Cornelia experienced her first sense of freedom.</p><p>They were taught by an old witch named Bathilda Bagshot who was extremely strict, but also very fair. It became obvious almost immediately that Cornelia was to flourish in these lessons, picking up theory quickly and understanding the mechanics of a broad range of spells that Draco struggled to get his head around. Particularly the defence against the dark arts spells, which she found exciting. Because of this Cornelia, for the first time in her life, was treated as a favourite and was praised regularly.</p><p>Draco was also not used to being second best to Cornelia and he found that it didn't suit him at all. For the first few lessons he had sucked up his negative feelings of jealousy as Cornelia picked up on spells that he had been trying to figure out for months longer than her, and tried to focus on just being glad to have classes with her. However, he couldn't hold it in for long.</p><p>After their fourth lesson together studying the expelliarmus spell, Cornelia had understood the general physics behind the spell: To create a magnetic field between the opposing wands and applying a force through ones own wand that jolted the opponents wand right from their fingers, causing it to arch through the air and eventually being drawn to the attractor side of the magnetic field which was the castor of the spell. When practising with their false wands she had perfected the movement and pronunciation perfectly on her first try, gaining a light applause from Mrs Bagshot. Draco couldn't bite back the outrage that rose like bile in his throat and ended up throwing his false wand upon the floor and storming from the room.</p><p>Later that evening when Cornelia had padded into Draco's room he ignored her attempts at communication stoically, something he had never been able to keep up with her before, but the jealousy still gnawed in his stomach ferociously. No matter what she said or where she moved Draco turned his back to her until she stormed from the room blinking back hurt and frustrated tears.</p><p>He turned to look at the door she had slammed behind her, a shade of guilt flitting through him for a moment before it twisted and renewed his previous rage. He made his own way out of the room and down the stairs.</p><p>A gong sound shook Cornelia from her daze a little while later. She had been laid on her bed with a book called 'Scary Spells for Spooky Kids' in front of her. She had been attempting to read the same page on the venomous tentacular for the last 15 minutes, but instead her mind kept trailing back to Draco and her stomach writhing uncomfortably at the thought.</p><p>The gong signalled a family meeting in the reception room, something that hadn't happened for at least a year, so Cornelia scrambled up quickly and made her way there as fast as she could without running. She had been markedly watching her behaviour since starting her magical theory classes, not wanting to give Aunt Cissy any excuse to take her out of them.</p><p>When she arrived she was greeted by three pairs of eyes, all of the Malfoy's being seated comfortably in the room. Draco quickly looked away and stared down at the wooden floor as if it were suddenly a fascinating book.</p><p>"Cornelia, take a seat." Uncle Lucy gestured to an armchair opposite his own beside the crackling fire. Cornelia nervously slid into it, getting a strange feeling that something unpleasant was about to happen. Why else would Draco be avoiding her gaze?</p><p>"We have been discussing your magical theory lessons with Draco." He continued and Cornelia's eyes shot straight back over to Draco who had a pink flush high on his narrow cheekbones. "It has come to our attention that Mrs Bagshot may be a little… past her best to be teaching."</p><p>"What?" Cornelia's mouth dropped open.</p><p>"Pardon!" Aunty Cissy corrected her sharply.</p><p>"Draco has informed us that her lessons are convoluted and meandering, and how she often loses her train of thought. It won't do to have our broods to be taught by a senile old woman now will it?" Lucius smiled in what he believed was a friendly manner.</p><p>"She is not senile!" Cornelia couldn't hold back from raising her voice in her outrage at Draco's blatant lies. "Draco is lying!"</p><p>Lucius's previously warm expression darkened and Aunt Cissy hissed "Cornelia! Control yourself!" whilst Draco's head shot up and he shouted back "I am not!"</p><p>"You are too! You're just jealous that I'm better than you!" Cornelia ignored Aunt Cissy's warning and shouted directly back to Draco, jumping to her feet.</p><p>Draco spluttered for a moment, his whole face flushed a dark red now. "I am not – You-you are not!"</p><p>"That is enough." Lucius's voice boomed with authority and immediately silenced the two children. Cornelia remained stood, her hands clenched into fists which quivered by her side. "This discussion is over. You will have a new tutor by the day after tomorrow. In the meantime, Cornelia you will come with me." He stood up and moved past Cornelia into the hallway. The quivering in Cornelia's hands took over her whole body as her previous anger was replaced with fear. Uncle Lucy's punishments were always much, much worse than Aunt Cissy's.</p><p>Draco watched her trail after his father, the previous flash of guilt now engulfing him. His mother patted his hand and smiled gently down at him. "Don't worry darling, we believe you." But the end of her sentence was lost in the shrieks that began from somewhere else in the mansion. Draco shot up and murmured "Goodnight mother." Before running upstairs and throwing himself into bed, pressing his pillows to his ears as hard as he could.</p><p>Draco tossed and turned all night, the wretched feeling in his stomach completely banishing any form of sleep. His bed felt cold and too big without Cornelia's warm form breathing softly beside him, and he finally gave up at 4.12AM, throwing the covers away from him and tiptoeing from the room.</p><p>He hesitated at Cornelia's door, his heart hammering in his chest. What if she refused to be anywhere near him? What if she hated him forever? After a few long minutes he forced himself to quietly push open the door and sneak to her bed.</p><p>He could tell she wasn't asleep; he knew what her breathing sounded like when she slept, but she didn't move or acknowledge him at all as he climbed slowly into the bed with her. He didn't dare to touch her and left a good foot of space between them before whispering "I'm really sorry Nelly."</p><p>Cornelia didn't respond. "Nelly?" He slowly reached out and put a gentle hand on her back. She flinched forcefully away and let out a low pained hiss. Draco drew back his hand quickly. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" He started to cry but Cornelia just went even stiller than before, apparently holding her breath.</p><p>After a few minutes Draco got a hold of himself and swallowed his sobs, staring widely at her back. As a last-ditch attempt, he reached out again, this time towards the mass of dark curls on her head. He buried his hand in them and found her earlobe where he tugged gently two times. It was their secret code, a wordless communication that they had developed right from being babies. It was hard to translate, but it loosely related to overwhelming feelings of love, and a signal to the other person that they needed comforting.</p><p>Cornelia let out the long breath she had been holding, her shoulders sinking before she stiffly shuffled around to face Draco. She met his gaze and he saw that her eyes were red and swollen from crying all night; Draco's own tears started to fall again in response. They embraced and cried into each other's shoulders, Draco careful to avoid touching the raw skin on her back, and eventually they fell asleep in each other's arms.</p><p>They didn't need to speak about what had happened the next day, instead arising together and continuing their day as usual. Cornelia didn't even mention it when they went into the classroom the day after to be faced with a new tutor by the name of Amycus Carrow.</p><p>Their new tutor was much wiser to the Malfoy ways than Bathilda Bagshot. Amycus ensured to overlook Cornelia when she outperformed Draco and praised Draco in a very over the top manner when he did well. Needless to say, there were no more rows between Draco and Cornelia, even if Cornelia did feel bitter every time Draco gloated to his parents about the praise he had received from Mr Carrow.</p><p>Finally, after what felt like forever, the day arrived for Draco and Cornelia to leave for Hogwarts. They had been preparing for the entire week before their departure, shopping for their supplies in Diagon Alley and getting a whole new wardrobe to last them the year and oncoming growth spurts, and their own wands. Cornelia hadn't taken the wand off her person since their purchase, extremely proud of her cedar wand of dragon heartstring and white river monster spine, a combination that Ollivander was delighted to ramble on and on about its rarity whilst looking her over with curious moon like eyes.</p><p>They also got matching friendship bracelets, a thin golden band with a single small emerald in the centre. They asked Lucius to bewitch them so that the metal would cool considerably if one of them were in mortal peril. He obliged with an amused smirk and Draco and Cornelia made a pact to never remove them.</p><p>Where Draco was a little nervous about the day ahead, Cornelia was brazenly brimming with excitement. She couldn't wait to escape the thick cold walls of the manor and to get away from the watchful eyes of Aunt Cissy and Uncle Lucy. She heeded Aunt Cissy's strictest warnings of controlling herself and protecting the family name all the while fighting to hold back a grin from her face. Still, when they arrived at Platform 9 and ¾ and Draco immediately beelined for the two hulking figures of Crabbe and Goyle, Cornelia felt uncertain for the first time.</p><p>She followed slowly and hovered behind him whilst he chattered away animatedly to the two boys. She had seen Crabbe and Goyle before of course, they had visited Draco at the manor every now and then, and from first sight she had decided they weren't her kind of people. They had always been big for their ages, and their mouths had always hung open in a way that she thought looked stupid. Their eyes were often glazed over and she soon realised they thought more with their fists than anything else. Not that they had ever dared to attack her, something about her haughty manner and quick temper kept them at bay, not to mention Draco wouldn't allow it. But she had watched them fight each other, their favourite game being Draco putting them up against each other and cheering them on from the side-lines. She had quickly bored of the boys and kept her distance from them whenever they were visiting. She hadn't thought of them being there today, and she had the sinking realisation that Draco wasn't going to just stick with her all the time. He had his own friends whilst she had none.</p><p>She dully wished her aunt and uncle goodbye and followed Draco, Crabbe and Goyle onto the train to find a compartment. All around her people were rushing to greet old friends and catching up excitedly but she suddenly felt very alone. She quietly joined Draco in the compartment they had chosen and looked out of the window, carefully composing her face so as not to show her disappointment. She forced a smile onto her face along with the other grinning boys when the train began moving and then lulled into silence as they continued to chat. After a while Draco dug an elbow in to her ribs and looked concernedly into her face.</p><p>"Did you hear what I said?" He asked and Cornelia shook her head, she had zoned out completely and had been sinking into her glum mood, imagining a future where she was left trailing behind Draco forever. "I said Potter's on the train! You know… Harry Potter?" He continued uncertainly at the blank expression on her face.</p><p>"Oh." Was all Cornelia managed. In spite of herself she felt her curiosity rise. They had obviously been told all about Harry Potter during their magical history classes, and Uncle Lucius had always insisted vehemently that Harry Potter was just an ordinary child that the rest of the wizarding population had projected their hopes onto, that there was no way that he could be responsible for the demise of the Dark Lord. Her and Draco had been brought up to respect and recognise the Dark Lord's power and to identify with his quest to purify the wizarding race, placing noble families at the top of the pecking order where they belonged.</p><p>"Well?" Draco wiggled his eyebrows at her like a pair of blonde caterpillars. "Shall we go and see him?"</p><p>"And do what?"</p><p>Draco paused. He hadn't thought that far ahead. "Well, he'd be a powerful friend to have." He said eventually.</p><p>"What so you're just going to walk up to him and become his friend? I bet everyone and their cat is trying that one." She snapped, her previous dark mood leaking out. Draco blanched.</p><p>"Well you don't have to come." He huffed, getting to his feet and turning his back on her. "Crabbe, Goyle, come on." And they shuffled after him like a pair of baboons.</p><p>Just great. Now she looked as alone as she felt. She rested her head on her arm and glared angrily out of the window. At one point the doors to the compartment slid open again and what looked like another first year girl peered in. "Is anybody else sitting here?" She asked timidly.</p><p>"Yes!" Cornelia snapped again and instantly regretted her decision when the girl hurriedly retreated before she could take it back. She fingered her wand, spinning it quickly between her fingers before letting out a sharp growl and thrusting her wand into the air in front of her. There was a sickening crunch and Cornelia flinched away from the window before staring at it in shock. A long crack had appeared in the glass, webbing out from a small point that looked about the width of her wand tip. As she stared back and forth between her wand and the window, Draco and his cronies returned.</p><p>Draco froze in the doorway and stared wide eyed at the crack. "What happened to the window?"</p><p>"Uh- I erm…"</p><p>A mischievous grin spread across Draco's face as he moved back towards his seat. "If you wanted to meet Potter that much all you had to do was say."</p><p>Cornelia flushed and snarled back "It doesn't look like he was much interested in being friends with you anyway!"</p><p>The smile was wiped from his face at that. "He seems like a loser." He muttered, and they quickly dropped the subject of both the window and Harry Potter.</p><p>It wasn't until the night fell and the train began to lose speed did Cornelia begin to feel jittery with nerves and excitement again. They changed quickly into their silk robes and waited, Cornelia listening to the boys exchanging stories of how they expected to be sorted into houses. Crabbe seemed to think that they would be forced to fight in a pool of mud.</p><p>"What do you think Nelly?" Draco asked Cornelia, his voice taking on a softer tone than it did when he addressed Crabbe or Goyle.</p><p>"I don't care as long as I'm in Slytherin." She answered nervously. She didn't really see the point in all of this guess work seeing as they were going to be finding out shortly, it just made her more nervous. All of the Malfoy's had been sorted into Slytherin, as had her own parents. It was the house of power, something that Cornelia dreamt of wistfully. She had lived her whole life in such close proximity to power watching Lucius and Narcissa navigate the wizarding world, and yet her own personal power was suppressed constantly. She couldn't wait to grow up and have power of her own building.</p><p>Draco agreed eagerly, as did Crabbe and Goyle when the train ground to a stop and they spilled out on to the bitterly cold platform along with all of the other students. They could make out above the hustle and bustle around them a loud deep voice calling "Firs' years over here! Firs' years this way!"</p><p>Lucius and Narcissa had told them to expect to look for a half giant oaf of a man called Hagrid on their first day there, and that they would be taking a boat ride up to the castle separately from the other students. Still, it was quite overwhelming to be face to face, or rather knee to face with the man himself and then lead to a fleet of small wooden boats bobbing on a black lake.</p><p>Cornelia was pleased when Draco stuck close to her, practically clinging onto her sleeve as they sorted themselves into who was in what boat, and remained to do so right up to the sorting ceremony. They were both astounded by the size and grandiosity of Hogwarts, it absolutely dwarfed the Malfoy mansion. When they were lead to a classroom off the grand hall and a troupe of transparent humanoid figures walked through a wall, Draco had grabbed her hand briefly before quickly letting go and looking around to make sure nobody had seen before meeting her eye and smirking at each other knowingly.</p><p>Finally they were lead into what Professor Mcgonagall had called the Great Hall and their breath left them momentarily. As well as being faced with an enormous hall filled with hundreds of students all of whom had their eyes turned towards them, it seemed that the hall had no ceiling. They looked up in to a clear night sky identical the one they had left outside. Cornelia heard a girl say "It's bewitched to look like the night sky, I read about it in Hogwarts: A History."</p><p>Dragging her eyes from the sky above them, Cornelia peered towards the front of the crowd of first years at what they were all moving towards. There she saw an ancient looking pointed hat sat upon a stool and she shared a confused look with Draco. At least there was no pool of mud. She almost jumped out of her skin when what looked like a great tear in the hat opened up and an equally ancient sounding voice boomed out of it.</p><p>After reciting a long poem the tear closed and Cornelia could feel thick anticipation in the air. Professor Mcgonagall stepped forward holding a scroll and began calling out student's names who would teeter forward and put the hat on their head. Sometimes immediately, sometimes after a few moments the hat's 'mouth' would open and it would boom out one of the four Hogwarts houses.</p><p>Cornelia's heart raced and her stomach churned as Mcgonagall got further down her list and finally read out "Lestrange, Cornelia."</p><p>She was sure that she heard a few whispers erupts from the students around her as she moved forward, suddenly glad for the many etiquette lessons she had had with Aunt Cissy where she had learnt to walk elegantly and properly. However, her mind was far too focussed on the hat to really pay any attention to what the other students may be saying.</p><p>As it slid over her ears the old voice sounded quietly in her ears. "Ah yes, power is what you seek. It is clear where you belong." Before shouting loudly into the room "SLYTHERIN!"</p><p>The Slytherin table erupted into loud cheers whilst the other houses clapped politely, and now Cornelia could clearly see some of the other students sharing pointed looks as she made her way to an empty seat. Once again the thought was whisked from her mind when she was greeted to the table by smiles and claps on the back, and suddenly all of her loneliness from the train journey evaporated and she felt more elated than she ever had in her life. She beamed round at them all before sitting beside another first year and turning her gaze back to the students waiting to be sorted, focusing in on Draco who was looking wistfully over at her. She gave him a confident grin which he couldn't quite manage to return.</p><p>They didn't have long to wait before Draco's name was called, and the hat barely brushed his head before it yelled "SLYTHERIN!" Cornelia jumped to her feet and dragged Draco into a tight hug the second he was within reach, and they jumped up and down squealing "We did it! We did it!" much to the amusement of the other Slytherins.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Phew! We made it to Hogwarts and I'm sure it didn't come as a surprise that Cornelia is of course a Slytherin. I find it really dull that Slytherin's are just typically painted as bad people rather than the children that they are, so we're going to cast a light in the dungeons and see what really goes on down there!</p><p>It's been difficult writing the whole 'getting ready for Hogwarts, going to Hogwarts, getting sorted' part of the story and not rushing it. It feels like Cornelia's story really begins in her third year at Hogwarts seeing as she won't be joining Harry in miraculously finding the philosopher's stone or the chamber of secrets, so I won't be writing multiple books worth of details about her first and second year. Does anyone else feel the same? We all wanna get straight to the good stuff right?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Remember All</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>After that the evening seemed to move forward in hyper drive. They stuffed themselves with food that was almost as good as what Dobby made for them at home, and finally shuffled after the Slytherin Prefect who was to show them the way to the Slytherin Common Room. It was difficult to keep their eyes open, being so happy and full, and they were sure they wouldn't be able to find their way back to the common room the next day as the prefect led them back through the entrance hall and down the stone steps into the dungeons. Eventually the prefect stopped in front of a bare stretch of stone wall, much like all of the other walls they had passed and said clearly "Pure-blood". The wall seemed to slide back to reveal a passage and they all moved through the passageway in silent awe.</p><p>The passageway opened up into a large chamber that was decorated in the Slytherin colours of emerald green and had large floor to ceiling windows that Cornelia was astonished to see seemed to look out into the bottom of a lake. Everything about the chamber was ornate and decadent, with green leather chesterfield sofas placed around an enormous fire that warmed what would have otherwise been a freezing common room.</p><p>Cornelia was gestured in the direction of the first year girls dormitory and followed a group of giggling witches through a heavy door and down more stone steps into a spacious room filled with large four poster beds.</p><p>"We're all in the same room?" A girl with a small face and turned up nose scoffed as soon as they entered.</p><p>"Nobody had better touch my stuff." Another large and intimidating girl said as she strode over to the bed furthest from the door and plonking herself down in the middle of it, glaring round at them all.</p><p>"Why would anyone want to touch your stuff?" The first girl laughed, choosing the bed beside the second girl. "I'm Pansy by the way, what are all of your names?"</p><p>"Millicent." Grunted the second girl.</p><p>A blonde girl was lingering by the door with Cornelia and she cast a shy look in her direction. "I'm Daphne Greengrass."</p><p>"That's a nice name." Said Pansy in what Cornelia thought was an annoyingly yappy voice.</p><p>"Tracey." Said a sullen looking girl who made to start unpacking her things from her trunk, not making eye contact with anyone.</p><p>"I'm Sally-Anne, nice to meet you all." Piped up a cheerful looking Black Irish witch who had hopped onto her own bed, smiling broadly as she considered the room around them.</p><p>"And you?" Pansy nodded her head in Cornelia's direction after a moment of quiet.</p><p>"I'm Cornelia." She said lowly, too tired to engage in too much conversation. She had moved over to the bed closest to the door and began to remove her robes. She could feel the other girl's eyes on her and could sense them silently communicating with each other. Pansy's irritating voice rang out again.</p><p>"Lestrange right? As in Bellatrix Lestrange's daughter." She could hear the sneer in her voice and bristled.</p><p>"That's right, is that a problem?" Cornelia turned around and looked Pansy straight in the eye who blinked in surprise.</p><p>"Not if you don't make it one." Pansy cocked her head to one side, her eyes challenging Cornelia's tone.</p><p>Cornelia slowly pulled out her wand and began spinning it in her hands like she had done on the train. Pansy's eyes followed the movement, a flicker of fear passing across her face. The other girls seemed to be holding their breath, Millicent leaning forward eagerly. After a long moment Cornelia put on her best Uncle Lucy dangerous smile and tapped her wand on her hand before placing it on her bedside table. "I'm too tired to play with you tonight. Maybe tomorrow."</p><p>Pansy didn't reply to this and Cornelia climbed into bed, her ears pricked to Pansy and Millicent's whispers.</p><p>"Did you see her face?"</p><p>"I'd sleep with one eye open tonight if I were you." Millicent replied, sounding completely unconcerned.</p><p>The next day Cornelia awoke to find that Pansy, Millicent and Daphne had already left, Tracey glanced at her sheepishly whilst Sally-Anne rushed around packing her bag and pulling on socks. Draco informed Cornelia that he had heard Pansy Parkinson telling people that she was as crazy as her mother and pressed her for details when she emerged in the common room. Cornelia's stomach dropped at his words, even though he sounded impressed. She had hoped that people wouldn't know about her mother's antics but it seemed that she had a reputation even amongst children her age. She suddenly remembered the whispers when her name had been called at the sorting ceremony and cringed internally; How many people knew about her mother and were secretly comparing them and judging her? She suddenly became hyper aware of student's eyes on her and wondering if they were looking at her oddly.</p><p>Automatically she acted in the way she had been taught, like a noble woman. How many times had Aunt Cissy drilled into her how to act when faced with difficulty? How many etiquette lessons had she had to train her for what seemed like this moment? Cornelia watched her step, head held high, blank expression. "Keep quiet and calculate, the time for action is when you are fully prepared." Aunt Cissy had said, and so Cornelia did.</p><p>She stuck close to Draco all day, quietly listening and watching the students mill around her. She kept a particularly close eye on Pansy, who mysteriously always ended up on the other side of whichever room they were in to her. She noticed that she had sidled up with Millicent, who reminded Cornelia of a female version of Crabbe, and Daphne, who was always touching her silvery hair. Pansy kept up a consistent whispering in their ears, her small eyes darting around the room.</p><p>Cornelia was also interested to observe how Draco acted now they were around other people. Similarly to Pansy he was never more than 3 feet away from Crabbe and Goyle, and Cornelia noticed that he had adopted an expression very similar to one Uncle Lucy sported, one of haughty disdain. He seemed to be doing his own sizing up of the people around them, noticing the weaker looking students and pointing them out to her, Crabbe and Goyle, the boys snickering darkly.</p><p>As Cornelia listened to his comments she was shocked to discover that he already knew of a surprising amount of students, reeling off information about their families. Familiar jealousy curled in her stomach as she remembered all the times Uncle Lucy had taken Draco with him to network either at dinners or the ministry, parading him around and introducing him to his contacts. Cornelia had meekly asked to go with them once, only to be laughed at by Lucius and patted on the head before being left staring at the empty fireplace where they had floo'd to the ministry.</p><p>She clearly had a lot of catching up to do, and she quietly asked Draco about their fellow Slytherin first years at breakfast. Draco puffed his chest out proudly before proceeding to give her the breakdown of what he knew.</p><p>"So that guy there is Blaise Zabini." He gestured his spoon in the direction of a very pretty dark-skinned boy that sat further down the table to them. Cornelia could spot from one glance that Blaise had had some kind of etiquette training by his straight back and the way he neatly applied jam to his toast. "His mother's Rosalind Zabini, have you heard of her?" Cornelia shook her head. "Well she's known as the black widow, she's had like 7 husbands who've all died "mysteriously" and left her all their money."</p><p>"So he's well off?" She murmured, throwing side glances in Zabini's direction as often as she could whilst still being discreet.</p><p>"Oh yeah, super rich. Not as rich as father of course, and it's all new money but still. And next to him is Theodore Nott, his father wrote The Pure-Blood Directory."</p><p>Cornelia knew of The Pure-Blood Directory of course, they had studied it in their magical history classes. Although the author hadn't penned their name, it seemed Uncle Lucy must have known who it was and disclosed that information to his son. Her eyes travelled over Theodore who was a skinny runty looking boy.</p><p>"And what about Pansy?" she asked noncommittedly, not needing to look at the girl in question. Draco smirked at her, his eyes flitting over her face.</p><p>"You're mad aren't you?"</p><p>"Not as mad as my mother." She replied, her tone was clipped but she knew that Draco would be able to read between the lines. Yes, she was mad. Draco laughed before continuing.</p><p>"Well they're the Parkinsons from the twenty-eight." Cornelia nodded, she'd assumed that would be the case from how cocky Pansy was. "I think it would be her great grandfather who was the minister of magic for a while. Tried to pass a law against marrying muggles. Didn't go through obviously, plenty of blood traitors and mudbloods in here."</p><p>"Any that I should know of?"</p><p>Draco's face twisted meanly and he glared across the room. Cornelia followed his gaze but couldn't pinpoint who he was looking at in the sea of students. "The Weasleys, they're the biggest blood traitors going."</p><p>Cornelia had heard Lucius mention the name Weasley a couple of times as they ate together in the evenings. His face was often contorted in the exact same way Draco's was now, as if the name tasted foul in his mouth. She had gathered that the Weasley he spoke of worked in the ministry and loved muggles.</p><p>"They're here?" She couldn't remember the name Weasley being called during the sorting ceremony, but she hadn't been paying an awful lot of attention to anyone besides herself and Draco.</p><p>"Oh yeah, there's tons of them, their mum's like a bitch in heat."</p><p>Cornelia let out a low whistle at the spiteful insult, not sure whether to be shocked or impressed.</p><p>"Any red-head you see is probably a Weasley. All in Gryffindor of course."</p><p>She cast her eye across the great hall towards the Gryffindor table and sure enough there were flaming redheads scattered across it. "What's the story?"</p><p>"Their dad works in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office at the ministry, he's the biggest muggle lover going, supported loads of pro-muggle bills and started a few petitions. Father says he's…"</p><p>"A disgrace to the name of wizards, I know. But they're pure-bloods?"</p><p>"Unfortunately." Draco started to stand. "Best get going though, we've got to find the Transfiguration classroom."</p><p>Transfiguration was taught by Professor Mcgonagall who had been the one to greet and sort them into the school. She was a strict unsmiling woman who demanded respect even from a room full of excited first years and who took no prisoners whilst delivering a very complicated and difficult introductory lesson. She was especially displeased when 10 minutes into the lesson the doors burst open and two boys ran panting into the room.</p><p>"Ha!" whispered Draco at the sight of them. "That's Potter and Weasley." He explained to Cornelia. Sure enough one of them had bright red hair and a face smattered in brown freckles, the other boy had black messy hair, thin face and spectacles. They both cowered beneath Mcgonagall's reproval before sheepishly taking their seats. Cornelia glanced at Pansy as she returned to look at her book and noted the look of grim satisfaction on her face at the two boys getting in trouble, it was the same expression that Draco was wearing.</p><p>Cornelia couldn't bring herself to be concerned with Harry Potter at that moment as she was still reeling from the beginning of the lesson when Professor Mcgonagall had taken the register. She didn't know how she'd missed it during the sorting ceremony, obviously being more distracted than she'd thought, but when Mcgonagall called out the name "Neville Longbottom" it was like an electric current ran through her. She spun in her seat searching out the owner of the name and quickly clapped eyes on a short stout boy who had nervously glanced in her direction at her sharp movement. Their eyes met and Cornelia automatically shrank away, shock rippling through her as she quickly sent her gaze down to the desk in front of her. Neville's eyes had been wide and his emotions were clear – he loathed her.</p><p>Cornelia had gone 10 years without meeting her mother, and yet it was as if she were in the room with her that day. She was sure her and Neville were seeing the same thing for the rest of the lesson; Bellatrix Lestrange torturing Frank and Alice Longbottom into insanity.</p><p>She tried to shake off the feelings of shame and guilt when the lesson ended and they made their way to their first charms class, but she couldn't ignore the sick feeling in her stomach that felt like it was bubbling and building. Draco asked her twice if she was feeling okay but she just brushed him off, it made sense that he didn't remember the names of the people her mother had tortured and she wasn't going to remind him. She really, really didn't want to talk about it.</p><p>Despite that though Charms was an easier experience than Transfiguration. It helped that they took the class with Ravenclaw rather than Gryffindor and that the theory was much clearer. By lunchtime Cornelia was able to focus on her mission of information gathering again, using it almost as a defence against the isolation and detachment she felt from the rest of the student body; Plus it was much easier to feel the rage towards Pansy than the sick shame towards Neville.</p><p>That being said however, the respite wouldn't last long as they made their way onto the castle grounds for their first flying lesson after lunch. Cornelia tried to brace herself having seen in her class schedule that the flying lesson was to be with the Gryffindors again, and she resorted to not looking in Neville's direction at all. She orientated herself so that Draco was an extra body between the two of them as they all took their places beside the brooms that lay on the ground.</p><p>She forced herself to listen to what Madam Hooch was saying as she realised that the woman wasn't someone to beat about the bush and was already instructing them to begin. "Stick out your right hand over your broom and say 'Up'!" She barked at them all, patrolling up and down the middle of the rows they were in.</p><p>Cornelia did as she was told, and even to her own ears her voice was meek in comparison to Draco's confident "Up!" And sure enough, his broom defied gravity, zooming up into his waiting hand whereas hers weakly twitched on the floor. He was grinning tauntingly at her, so she jutted out her chin, focused all her attention on the broom and repeated "Up!" in an authoritative voice. This time the broom left the floor by a couple of inches before flopping back to the ground. Draco let out a peal of laughter at the furious look on her face.</p><p>"With feeling!" Madam Hooch instructed and Cornelia repeated herself with feeling alright. This time the broom did the same as Draco's and zoomed up towards her hand, but in her surprise she forgot to catch it. She stumbled forward and grabbed it before it hit the ground again. Draco was bent over laughing at her now and she stood straight, shoulders back and chin high. "That counts!" She snarled.</p><p>"S-sure!" Draco giggled. It wasn't often that he got to see Cornelia struggle with something.</p><p>Next Madam Hooch told them all to straddle their brooms and hold onto them tightly, and that was when it happened. Further down the line a boy started calling in a panicked voice "woah…wooooah….ahhhh!" Sure enough, there was Neville rising unsteadily into the air on his broom, apparently completely out of control.</p><p>"Mr Longbottom! Mr Longbottom, come down this instant!" Madam Hooch yelled, running towards him, but it was too late.</p><p>As Neville panicked the broom began to buck, looking as if it were trying to throw him off. Neville started screaming, as did a few of the others on the ground, and was clutching onto the broom for dear life before sliding sideways and falling to the ground with a sickening crash. Cornelia was amongst the rest of the class that rushed forward to where he lay groaning on the floor to see if he was alright.</p><p>Madam Hooch knelt beside him and attempted to help him up, he cried out when she touched his arm and she cooed "There there, it's a broken wrist." before turning to the rest of the class and shouting in a booming voice that made Neville wince again "Everyone is to stay on the ground whilst I take Mr Longbottom to the Hospital Wing. If I see a single broom in the air the person riding it will be expelled from Hogwarts faster than they can say 'Quidditch'!"</p><p>As soon as they were out of earshot, Draco fell about laughing. "Did you see his face, the great lump?" he cried and the other Slytherins joined in.</p><p>Cornelia looked down at him and around at the other Slytherin's, she couldn't have found anything less funny. If it had been somebody else flailing around in the air perhaps, but as it was Neville she couldn't bring herself to laugh at his misfortune.</p><p>"Shut up Draco." Said a Gryffindor witch called Parvati Patil. Cornelia who would have usually bristled at anyone speaking to Draco like that was pleased someone had said what she was thinking, and she subconsciously took a step back from Draco.</p><p>Pansy's yappy voice rang out across the grounds as she sneered "Oooh, sticking up for Longbottom? Never thought you'd like fat little cry babies Parvati." Cornelia's resolve to wreak some kind of havoc on Pansy solidified in her mind at that.</p><p>"Look!" Draco suddenly darted forward and snatched something off the ground before holding it up and exclaiming "It's that stupid thing Longbottom's gran sent him."</p><p>"Give that here Malfoy." Said another voice and everyone turned to see Harry Potter step forward, his expression dark and full of dislike. Despite her discontent at Draco's behaviour, Cornelia stepped up beside Draco and she heard Crabbe and Goyle do the same. Bolstered by their support Draco sneered back at Harry.</p><p>"I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to collect – how about – up a tree?"</p><p>Cornelia couldn't help herself, her hand whipped out and she snatched the Remembrall from Draco's grip.</p><p>"Wha-" He stared open mouthed at her along with everybody else on the grounds.</p><p>"I've always wanted one of these." She lied coolly, looking Draco in the eye. His face had flushed like he was about to argue but quickly twisted into a smirk at her words.</p><p>"Give it here!" Harry yelled moving towards Cornelia, but she was prepared, her right hand had been in her pocket touching her wand the entire time and she whipped it out pointing it at Harry's face.</p><p>"I won't." Was all she said and Harry moved as if to scrabble for his own wand before Ron put a hand on his arm and shook his head.</p><p>"Don't mate, she's mental."</p><p>His words felt like a punch in her stomach but she just borrowed the same dangerous Uncle Lucy smile she had used on Pansy the night before. "I'd listen to your friend if I were you Harry Potter."</p><p>"You shouldn't fight, you'll get us all in trouble!" Another voice piped up from a bushy haired Gryffindor girl who had stepped up beside Harry and was scowling deeply at Cornelia.</p><p>Actually Cornelia had no idea how to even use her wand yet, the only classes she had taken were theory, but she remembered what she had done to the train window and supposed if she repeated the gesture something would happen. She hoped that it wouldn't come down to that though. She kept a steady gaze on Harry's green eyes as he struggled against the urge to grab the Remembrall from her, and finally he turned away from her with a frustrated growl.</p><p>"Clever boy." She murmured, pocketing the Remembrall but keeping her wand held tight by her side.</p><p>"You should be ashamed!" Spat the bushy haired girl who Cornelia recognised as Hermione, a girl who had seemed to have had her hand in the air perpetually in Transfiguration that morning. Cornelia just shrugged and watched as the Gryffindors separated themselves from the Slytherins all throwing dirty looks in her and Draco's direction.</p><p>Draco turned to her and gave her an impressed grin which she didn't return just as Madam Hooch came stalking abck onto the grounds. As the class commenced and Cornelia distractedly attempted to kick off the ground and join Draco in the air, Hermione discreetly moved over to Madam Hooch and muttered in her ear.</p><p>When the class ended and Cornelia went to leave with Draco, Madam Hooch called her name. "Lestrange, stay behind please."</p><p>Waving off Draco's worried expression and taking a deep breath, she returned back to Madam Hooch who was looking at her sternly. She had expected someone to snitch on her, had been relying on it actually, as it would save her figuring out how to get the Remembrall back to Neville without being found out.</p><p>"Yes Madam Hooch?"</p><p>"Would you mind explaining to me what happened whilst I was at the hospital wing with Longbottom?"</p><p>"I took his Remembrall ma'am." Cornelia replied without hesitation. Madam Hooch looked taken aback before quickly collecting herself.</p><p>"Why would you do that?" She snapped. Cornelia wondered whether to tell the truth or to keep up the act she had with her classmates. After a moment of hesitation she decided the former.</p><p>"I wanted to keep Draco from taking it."</p><p>"So you stole it yourself?"</p><p>"With the intention of giving it back ma'am."</p><p>Madam Hooch didn't look like she believed her and this wasn't a new situation to Cornelia. She had been looked at in that manner her whole life by her aunt and uncle. She braced herself for the inevitable punishment.</p><p>"If that were the case then you should have handed it straight to me. 5 points from Slytherin and detention tomorrow evening in my office."</p><p>"Yes ma'am." Cornelia said dully, bowing her head obediently.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So this is when I really started to enjoy exploring Cornelia's character a little more. Whilst I have a loose story plan with what I want to happen I love it when a character writes themselves. There were a good few times during this chapter where I was like "oh so she did that?" or "niiiiice" at Cornelia's reactions to the world around her. I had no plan for her to take the remembrall from Draco and yet here we are! What knock on effect will this have on Harry's quidditch activities as I assume he won't be caught pulling any stunts in front of a professor? But then again, this is Harry we're talking about! It was nice to see more of her and Draco's friendship as well as the conversations are really when that shines I think - what do you think?</p><p>Also I'm imagining that there are some super fanatics out there that might get a little annoyed by my awkward combining of the book and the films with the script and the class timetables? It just feels too nitpicky and breaks the flow of writing too much to be obsessed with getting it technically perfect. Maybe it's just me being paranoid that people will care about that but that's just the way it's gonna be!</p><p>Until next time.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Burn for Burn</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>After that Cornelia fell into a routine of sorts, hardening her skin to the glares from the Gryffindors and often the Hufflepuffs although nobody ever dared to actually say anything to her face. She remained as passive as possible after her firework of a first day, quiet and watchful, often from beside Draco. She had noticed that Draco's peacock behaviour that he had adopted on his first day didn't pass, and it wasn't the Draco she had grown up knowing and loving. Her Draco was sweet, thoughtful and worried, this new Draco was sneering, spiteful and mean to those he deemed below him. Although he was the same as he had always been with her, it was jarring and sometimes embarrassing watching him interact with the other students. It seemed his old games of putting up Crabbe and Goyle against each other had branched out into putting Crabbe and Goyle up against somebody else, willing or not. It wasn't that she altogether cared for the people that they picked on, it just wasn't her sort of fun or even revenge. She found him to be too obviously villainous, almost as if he were playing the role out of a book, his tactics too childish. She on the other hand didn't like to get caught when she played with someone, which was exactly how she had exacted her revenge on Pansy.</p><p>After watching her closely for a few days, Cornelia had a good grasp on her habits and personality. Pansy loved to gossip and talk trash about her fellow students and showed no loyalties. She took pleasure in other people's pain and embarrassment but avoided being involved in the drama that she loved to watch unfold, preferring to egg on the perpetrator from the side-lines. Her pride was also extremely fragile and she would take offence at the smallest slights. Cornelia had followed her and Daphne into the bathroom once and took her time locked away in a stall, easily able to hear the high frequencies of Pansy's voice ringing through the room.</p><p>"Have you ever noticed the smell coming from Milly?" She had asked Daphne in what Cornelia was sure she considered a hushed tone.</p><p>Daphne giggled. "Is that where it's coming from?"</p><p>"Oh yeah. You know she told me the other day that she never washes her hair? And I've seen her leave the bathroom without washing her hands before. Her hygiene is really terrible!"</p><p>"Eww gross!"</p><p>Cornelia smirked inside her stall, waiting for the girls to leave the bathroom before emerging.</p><p>The next day Cornelia made sure to avoid Draco's company, claiming she was off to the library to do some studying, which technically turned out to be true, but only because that's where Pansy, Daphne and Millicent ended up heading.</p><p>Cornelia placed herself just in view of the girls, and then went to walk around the library, passing the girls and glancing over their shoulders at whatever they were working on. It was easy to read the headings at the top of their scrolls and see that they were working on their potion's homework, something Cornelia had already completed. She went back to her desk and pretended to start the essay again, frowning and making a show of finding it difficult before leaning back in her chair and glancing around the library as if for inspiration, her eyes falling on the three girls. After a moments pause she got up and made her way over, Pansy looked up at her approach and then stiffened in her seat, staring at her suspiciously. The two of them hadn't had any interaction since that first evening, Pansy making it very clear she didn't even want to be in the same room as Cornelia, which was fine by her.</p><p>Cornelia organised her features into what she hoped looked like a shy expression and gave a small smile to Pansy which she didn't return. The other two were watching Cornelia now too.</p><p>"Hey." Cornelia addressed Pansy. "Are you guys working on Snape's essay?"</p><p>"Yes." She replied stiffly.</p><p>"Oh good. Erm, I've completely lost my notes, I don't suppose you'd lend me yours for a few minutes would you?"</p><p>It was obvious by Pansy's face that she very much wanted to say no but Cornelia's reputation was clearly holding her back. After a moment of silent glaring, she thrust her notebook towards Cornelia who accepted it graciously.</p><p>"Thanks. And I'm sorry about that first night in the dormitory, I misread the situation." She beamed at Pansy, who looked like she'd been hit in the face by a heavy book, before sweeping back to her desk and poring over Pansy's notes. She could hear the girl's furious whispers behind her, and she was sure that Pansy was frantically discussing Cornelia's apology with Daphne and Millicent.</p><p>She was copying Pansy's notes, copying them with such careful accuracy that anyone would believe that she really had lost her notes from Snape's lesson. Actually, Cornelia wasn't really paying attention to the content of Pansy's notes but rather the way they were written, studying every twist and turn of her handwriting and doing her best to replicate it in her own notebook.</p><p>After 15 minutes she was satisfied with her work and went to return the notebook to Pansy, who experimented with a hesitant smile. Cornelia returned it widely before leaving the library. It was easy to be nice to someone whose downfall was imminent.</p><p>Cornelia waited for a week before she put her plan in action, and to anyone watching they would have thought the girls had made up from their previous rivalry. Not that they were best chums or anything, but they were pleasant enough.</p><p>She waited until just before their final class on Friday as the Slytherins made their way into the dungeons from History of Magic to Potions before tapping Crabbe on the shoulder and standing on her tiptoes to hiss "trip over Pansy." In his ear. The great buffoon was so used to taking orders from Draco that he just grinned at her before jogging up behind Pansy and sticking his large foot under her feet. Sure enough Pansy went down with a shriek loud enough to wake the dead and the hall erupted into guffaws of laughter from Crabbe, Goyle and Millicent. Pansy shot back up, her pug like face red and twisted as she cursed Crabbe at the top of her lungs before shooting a nasty look at Millicent and striding off with Daphne in tow. Phase 1 complete, Cornelia congratulated herself in her mind.</p><p>Cornelia was happy to see that Pansy resolutely ignored Millicent as she took her usual seat beside her in class and the tension lasted right through dinner. Phase 2 wasn't to take place until much later that night when Cornelia was sure that everyone was fast asleep. That didn't happen until 2.30 that morning and Cornelia made sure that Millicent's gurgling snores were deep and steady before creeping out of bed and sliding a large sheet of paper out from under her pillow that had the words "Wash your hair you stink!" scrawled across it in thick black felt.</p><p>Quiet as a mouse Cornelia tiptoed across the room towards the hulking and snoring figure of Millicent and hung over her nervously. Holding her breath, she pressed the paper to her headboard and sealed it there with a whispered sticking spell she had been practising all week. Back in bed and shaking excitedly, Cornelia couldn't stop grinning. She couldn't wait for the wrath that was Millicent Bulstrode in the morning, and the fun wouldn't end there. Two birds with one stone, Cornelia finally drifted off thinking happily.</p><p>Cornelia awoke to a roar in the morning. "Who put this here?!" and sat up quickly trying with all her might to suffocate her laughter.</p><p>Millicent was on the rampage already, trying desperately to get a grip on the corner of the sheet of paper on her headboard to rip it off. Cornelia was pleased to see her sticking charm was holding up nicely. Enraged by the offending words still staring at her Millicent began to attack it with her fists, the sound of splintering wood filling the dormitory.</p><p>"What the hell are you doing?" Scowled Pansy, her and Daphne approaching quickly.</p><p>"Was this you, you bitch?!" Millicent turned to Pansy, towering over her threateningly.</p><p>Pansy stared wide eyed between the paper and Millicent. "Of course not!" Her voice rising in pitch.</p><p>"It looks like your writing!" And sure enough the 'y' in 'your' had the ridiculous curve in the tail, just like Pansy's handwriting.</p><p>"I didn't! I swear!" Pansy began to squeal, cowering away from Millicent. "It wasn't me!"</p><p>"Well it was somebody in here!" Roared Millicent again, spittle flying from her mouth, her face a dark puce shade, her eyes flashing dangerously around the room.</p><p>Cornelia copied Tracey and Sally-Anne's expression of fear and confusion and Pansy took the opportunity of Millicent's eyes not being on her to dart out of her reach towards the door. "I'll go and get Professor Snape!"</p><p>"Oh no you won't!" Millicent charged towards her and gripped her arm roughly, Pansy yelped in pain. "This doesn't leave this room. When I find out who did this-" she shoved Pansy roughly away from the door "they're dead." Before storming out herself.</p><p>Daphne rushed over to Pansy who started crying noisily and Cornelia shared a gobsmacked look with the other girls. After a few minutes of the only noise being Pansy's dramatic wailing, they all began to move awkwardly to get ready and shuffle out of the room.</p><p>Once in the common room Cornelia moved onto Phase 3, darting over to where Draco was yawning by the fire.</p><p>"Hey." She greeted him as she perched herself on the arm of the chair he was sat in.</p><p>"Hi." He smiled up at her before narrowing his eyes. "What's up with you?" The smile that had been threatening to spill out all morning tugged on the corner of her lips and she cast a quick look around the room to make sure there was nobody within earshot.</p><p>"We had some drama in the girl's dormitory this morning." She murmured.</p><p>"What happened?"</p><p>"Somebody pinned a sign on Millicent's headboard telling her to get a wash and that she stinks." Draco cackled whilst Cornelia shushed him. "And I think I know who it was." She continued.</p><p>"Who?" He asked and looking into his eyes she could see that he had his suspicions of her. Well she wasn't overly worried about Draco guessing correctly, she knew he'd still play his part perfectly even if he did know it was actually Cornelia's doing.</p><p>"Well Pansy told me in the bathroom the other day that Millicent never washes her hair. She also told me that she doesn't wash her hands after she goes to the toilet. Millicent seemed pretty certain it was her handwriting this morning." She whispered conspiratorially. Draco nodded along, watching her carefully. She paused before continuing even more quietly. "I was wondering if you could do me a favour." His answering smirk was all the confirmation she needed. "Pass it on that Pansy has been telling everyone?"</p><p>Draco didn't answer but stared at her with the oddest expression on his face, Cornelia could only liken it to overwhelming pride. He did his own scoping of the room before quickly reaching up and briefly touching her earlobe. Cornelia smiled at him warmly, her chest filling with affection. He was still her Draco.</p><p>Her plot for revenge on Pansy went off without a hitch, and Cornelia was extremely satisfied when later that day the rumours she had started got back around to Millicent and ultimately resulted in Pansy sporting a shining black eye. She walked with a new spring in her step and felt immune to the normal glares she got around the school. She felt empowered, and whilst she had no idea how to go about making friends, she had somehow pulled the strings on several people to get the results she wanted. It felt good.</p><p>Not that plotting revenge on Pansy was all that Cornelia had been doing over her first month at Hogwarts. She had attended her classes with as much enthusiasm and dedication as she had with their magical theory classes back at the Malfoy Manor. Apart from History of Magic. Nobody could be enthusiastic about that with Professor Binns teaching.</p><p>She had been particularly excited about their Defence Against the Dark Arts classes, but they had been a massive disappointment. It appeared they would be sticking to theory for a long time during those classes; Professor Quirrell seemed to be scared of his own wand and was mainly teaching them how to produce pretty sparks, insisting that it would be useful if they ever needed to startle a dark creature.</p><p>Charms was a useful lesson and very rarely boring, it had the most practical wand work out of all of the classes. Cornelia did very well in charms, understanding what she thought was the relatively straight forward theory behind the spells and was often amongst the first students to cast the spell correctly.</p><p>Transfiguration was also interesting but extremely difficult. Cornelia found she often got frustrated when she didn't understand how the theory worked immediately, but it did make the success even sweeter when she eventually caught on.</p><p>Flying lessons were a joke and Cornelia decided she much preferred moving at her own speed with two feet on the ground rather than getting somehow cold and sweaty at the same time in mid-air.</p><p>She found the plants that they learnt about in Herbology interesting but didn't care for the maintenance that came with them. It was a good time to chat though and the greenhouse was always filled with voices, laughter and the odd shout.</p><p>She flat out disliked potions, not being thorough enough in her reading of instructions and prepping ingredients and certainly not patient enough to brew the potion for the right amount of time in between ingredients. She did like Professor Snape however, appreciating his extreme intelligence, dark sense of humour and lack of boundaries when it came to disciplining the students. It was nice to see the Gryffindors that hated her so much being brought down a peg or two as well.</p><p>And then there was Astronomy, which was too cold for her to care.</p><p>She was always punctual with her homework, not having any friends other than Draco and wanting to limit her contact with his cronies. It wasn't that Cornelia was completely unapproachable, Sally-Anne and Tracey had tried to befriend her a couple of times; It was just that she had no desire to be friends with them and purposefully kept them at an arm's length because of this. There was nothing wrong with the girls, they just seemed a little … childish. Although Cornelia was lonely she wasn't desperate.</p><p>And so life at Hogwarts passed in much the same way. Cornelia watched as Draco grew his vendetta against Harry Potter for reasons she couldn't much understand. She was with Uncle Lucy's opinion of the boy, there didn't seem to be much to him. He was a genuinely standard student with a bog-standard Gryffindor attitude. His best friend Ron Weasley was more interesting to Cornelia, having a dry sense of humour and a habit of saying things that others were too polite to say out loud. She often found herself smothering a smile as he told someone to "bugger off" or voiced his annoyance at how difficult a subject was loudly and scathingly.</p><p>It wasn't until early November did Cornelia find herself intrigued in another person. It was during a Charms class where they were perfecting the Wingardium Leviosa spell, a charm they had been learning for the past 2 week and one that the majority of the class now had the hang of. This made the lesson remarkably easy, casting the spell and hovering a feather for however long you felt like whilst Flitwick attended to the stragglers. It was 10 minutes into the lesson and the classroom was full of hovering feathers and chatting.</p><p>A Ravenclaw's voice suddenly rang out loud and irritated "Oi! Stop it!" whilst he attempted to swat away a feather that was persisting in tickling his nose, ears and then swooping into his mouth when it opened to yell. The class erupted into laughter, the hilarity growing the more frustrated the boy got.</p><p>"Now now that's enough!" Flitwick called out, but the feather persisted in tickling the boy. "Wands away and feathers down please!" He continued to call and feathers slowly fell through the air, all of them apart from the feather in question.</p><p>Cornelia cast her eyes across the rest of the Slytherins all of whom were finding the situation highly amusing apart from Theodore Nott who contrastingly looked entirely bored. However, when her eyes lowered to his hand which was laying casually in his lap beneath the desk, she saw he held his wand pointed steadily towards the feather.</p><p>The feather continued to attack the boy as ferociously as a feather can, Flitwick getting more and more wound up before waving his own wand and vanishing the feather altogether.</p><p>"Quiet!" He shouted in a squeaky voice. "That was not amusing at all. Two extra feet will be added onto the length of everyone's essays for the disruption of my time!"</p><p>Judging by the lack of blame and moaning towards Theodore, it seemed that nobody else had noticed that he was responsible for the act.</p><p>Cornelia hadn't had much to do with Theodore before, nobody in Slytherin really had. He kept himself to himself, rarely speaking up in class unless asked and seeming quite content in his own company. He would casually overlook the other student's activity during classes and would tuck himself away in a warm corner of the common room with a book outside of classes, or would take long walks around the grounds. He occasionally ate with Zabini and two would sit with their heads together talking quickly in low voices and chuckling every now and then.</p><p>After that charms lesson Cornelia was surprised to find that he was behind the majority of classroom disruptions, seemingly picking students from other houses at random to prank. His tactics were always remarkably sly and clever and half of the time the student he was pranking couldn't be sure if the end result was their own fault or simply bad luck.</p><p>Cornelia watched him subtly with glee, excited when she caught him at his tricks again which was surprisingly often, it was like a secret she alone was in on. He wasn't an excellent student but he seemed content with his abilities and generally bored enough in lessons to seek his own form of entertainment.</p><p>It was during a potions class that Theodore finally noticed Cornelia watching him as he orchestrated another prank, this time on Ron Weasley, levitating extra valerian sprigs in small increments into his Forgetfulness potion. He had just dropped his third batch into his cauldron when his eyes darted around the room and caught Cornelia's. He didn't drop her gaze and she smiled hesitantly; He didn't return it. Instead he stared at her until Cornelia was the one to awkwardly look away, confused by his completely blank expression.</p><p>She didn't speak to him right away, and more days passed of her quietly observing him. This time however Theodore made sure to turn and seek out her gaze either during or after one of his pranks, again with that same blank expression that was impossible to read. Eventually Cornelia was so tired of the game they were apparently playing that she plucked up her courage to place her telescope beside his during their astronomy lesson late one Wednesday night.</p><p>"Hi." She murmured as they shared a, by now, familiar look.</p><p>"Hi." He returned, his voice surprisingly welcoming almost as if he had been waiting for her to talk to him, and this time he returned her small smile. She felt a rush of warmth through her and she recognised it was similar to what she felt when she was alone with Draco – it was comfort.</p><p>They didn't speak for the rest of the lesson only occasionally sharing little smiles in between peering through their telescopes, but they walked side by side back down from the tower, Draco peering over his shoulder at them with a faint frown on his face. It was the first thing Theodore pointed out.</p><p>"It looks like Draco is missing you."</p><p>"He's got his cronies." Cornelia dismissed, nodding her head at Crabbe and Goyle.</p><p>"Interesting company?"</p><p>She giggled a little. "If you like watching paint dry."</p><p>"Useful though I expect."</p><p>"Draco thinks so."</p><p>"Why do you think he needs a pair of bodyguards?"</p><p>She thought for a moment, the quiet between them maintaining the same level of peace she had felt up on the astronomy tower. "I suppose it means he can say whatever he wants to whoever he wants."</p><p>Theodore smirked and after peering at him curiously for a while Cornelia prompted him to share his thoughts.</p><p>"Do you need bodyguards?" He asked pointedly, his eyes twinkling knowingly at her.</p><p>"Why would I need them?" She frowned, confused by direction of the conversation.</p><p>He paused before asking "Will you teach me that sticking spell?" and Cornelia's head whipped back to face him so quick that she almost cricked her neck. He laughed softly at the look of indignation on her face. She desperately wanted to know how he knew about her involvement in the incident between Pansy and Millicent, the only other person who knew was Draco and there was no way he would share that information with Theodore. But then she remembered how cautious and undetectable his pranking was and couldn't find herself to be overly surprised that he knew. She told him so and he laughed again.</p><p>"How long have you been watching me?" He asked.</p><p>"I could ask you the same." She replied.</p><p>"See? People like us don't need bodyguards." He grinned and she beamed back, it seemed like they understood each other already.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Ayooo, we're getting into it. Isn't Cornelia a scheming little witch? I loved writing how she pulled off her revenge plan on Pansy, I thought it was quite wicked for an 11 year old! It's nice writing a morally ambivalent character. I think it's clear why she's drawn towards quiet, sly Theodore, and I'm looking forward to developing their friendship more. One can only imagine what they can achieve together with their fox like minds!</p><p>Until next time.</p>
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<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Playing with Fire</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The rest of the term was much more enjoyable for Cornelia as she split her time between Draco and Theodore, no longer feeling like she had no choice other than to trail behind Draco, Crabbe and Goyle in her spare time. Theodore was right, it seemed that Draco felt her absence sorely and often made sly remarks when she went to potter over to Theodore.</p><p>"Off to whisper with Nott are you?" He called out as she turned from him to look for Theodore one lunchtime. Although she had sensed his prickliness as she and Theodore spent gradually more time together, she had just ignored it hoping that he would get over it once he realised it didn't mean she was abandoning him completely. His mocking tone irritated her this time though and she turned slowly back, looking him over disdainfully.</p><p>"Yes. It's much better than grunting all lunch with you lot." She cast her eyes meaningfully over Crabbe and Goyle who just stared stupidly back at her, clearly not understanding the dig. Draco on the other hand just clenched his jaw and watched her darkly as she stomped off to where Theodore was sat already at the table.</p><p>Theodore's quiet demeaner had a pacifying effect on Cornelia whenever she was around him, and she quickly found her irritation at Draco's comments fizzle out. He would captivate her attention with people watching and observations he had made, it seemed he had an eye for understanding people's relationships to each other and could pick them apart with disturbing accuracy. Cornelia on the other hand was equally observant when it came to understanding what the people themselves were like and they entertained themselves by creating a database of sorts on the students around them.</p><p>She realised that they shared an interest in the actions of others and taking a hand in the creation of consequences for these actions. Whilst Cornelia took her time carefully watching and creating a hole proof plan to bring about more extreme consequences, Theodore was much rasher and dealt out smaller consequences more often, hence the regular pranking.</p><p>She found out that all of the pranks she had witnessed before their friendship were mild punishments for some unpleasant behaviour Theodore had seen the 'victim' of his pranks commit sometime before the lesson.</p><p>That was why when some 5 minutes after she had sat down beside him and Draco shot from his seat yelling as a jug of pumpkin juice had mysteriously fallen on its side and spilt its contents in his lap, she had to fight not to laugh. Eyes glittering she shook her head minutely whispering "Not Draco please Theodore. I can handle him."</p><p>She watched as one of the older students removed the juice on Draco's cloak and he, Crabbe and Goyle stormed out of the Grand Hall, stopping on their way to swap some insults no doubt with Harry Potter and Ron Weasley.</p><p>"He's going to apologise later anyway." Theodore said.</p><p>"How do you know?"</p><p>He shrugged. "He's mad at himself, not you."</p><p>"Why would he be mad at himself?"</p><p>"Oh I don't know…" He trailed off and Cornelia frowned at him. "Anyway, I've been wondering if it's time to do something about Justin Finch-Fletchley. I don't like the way he thinks he can say those things about you whenever he sees you and gets away with it, and my pranks don't seem to be getting through."</p><p>Easily distracted, Cornelia's frown transformed into a grin. Justin had an annoying habit of stage whispering comments about Azkaban and her mother whenever she was within earshot, backed up by Susan Bones who often referred to some information her aunt, Amelia Bones, had apparently passed on. Whilst it might have effected Cornelia seriously enough to have considered what she might have done about it a month earlier, it seemed the majority of the student body had gotten over her connection with her parents seeing as she hadn't displayed any insane tendencies since the Remembrall incident on her first day, and therefore she felt she could cope with a couple of pathetic Hufflepuffs a little better. However, working with Theodore on a plan brought a whole new level of fun to the situation, and she was excited to combine their efforts.</p><p>They hatched a plan relatively quickly, but it took some preparation. Theodore wanted the plan to clearly hold the message that it came from Cornelia whilst leaving no evidence that it had anything to do with her, or him of course. This included learning the complex method behind a heating rune, which they were going to carve beneath Justin's chair that he always sat in during their History of Magic classes together. Theodore was going to do the majority of the wandwork in his typically undetectable fashion, taking on the rest of Justin's friendship group that snickered every time he poked at Cornelia.</p><p>Finally the day came when Cornelia had perfected the heating rune she was going to use and had managed to sneak into the empty classroom during lunch earlier that day to carve it beneath Justin's chair. Her and Theodore made sure not to sit together during that class, Cornelia instead placing herself alone and within earshot of the group.</p><p>As if on cue, Justin began his predictable and altogether worn out comments about her mother as soon as Professor Binns got into his stride reading from a book in a monotonous voice.</p><p>"It's an awful day to be surrounded by dementors!" He whispered loudly, and the day was indeed dreary, a constant sheet of grey drizzle pattering against the window panes. "Although I expect you wouldn't notice the weather, even if there are holes in the roof of Azkaban!"</p><p>Cornelia smirked, for the first time she enjoyed the sound of Justin's pompous voice and she turned in her seat to look in his eyes. He seemed a little taken aback, she usually resolutely ignored him, and the smirk was quite disconcerting. As he thought this, his bottom suddenly felt warm and he looked down, mortified by the thought that he had accidentally wet himself. This line of thought only lasted for a couple of seconds before the heat became altogether too hot and suddenly with a whoosh and crackle, and a scream from Justin, his chair burst into scorching flames. He shot up, as did his friends surrounding him only to all fall back to the ground, and in Justin's case, back into the flames. Their shoelaces had all been tied together in a long line of knotted string.</p><p>Cornelia jolted to her feet along with the rest of the class as Justin's bloodcurdling screams filled the classroom and, with the sensation of running face first into a brick wall, she realised she had gone too far. She rushed forward unthinkingly, ripping off her cloak and diving onto Justin, attempting to smother the flames. She sensed rather than saw, being too intent on putting right her wrong, more students following her lead.</p><p>It only took a few moments to put out the flames and she remained knelt on the floor beside a whimpering Justin, breathing heavily as she got to see close up the damage she had done. His clothes had burnt away in patches on his lower half, and she could the skin was blistered and red through the holes.</p><p>His eyes opened and fell on her and he started screaming again. "GET AWAY FROM ME! GET HER AWAY FROM ME!"</p><p>Cornelia sprang to her feet and scarpered backwards into someone's arms. "Watch your mouth! She's the one who put the flames out!" Yelled Draco's voice just beside her ear.</p><p>"SHE DID THIS TO ME! YOU'RE EVIL! EVIL JUST LIKE YOUR MOTHER!" Justin screeched hysterically and Cornelia cowered back further into Draco, her body shaking from the adrenaline coursing through her. Susan was sobbing loudly beside Justin.</p><p>"You miserable-!" Draco drew his wand and Cornelia quickly grabbed his arm.</p><p>"Don't Draco!"</p><p>"Will somebody please take Mr Finch-Fletchley to the hospital wing? Can you stand sir?" Professor Binns was hovering uselessly above them all, his voice unrecognisable having finally been broken out of its monotonous shell. Justin looked at him wildly. "I assure you we will get to the bottom of who did this. It will be taken extremely seriously." He added and Cornelia felt sick. She didn't dare to look at Theodore.</p><p>The class disbanded immediately, Draco only leaving when threatened with losing 50 house points, and Professor Binns demanded Cornelia to follow him to the headmaster's office.</p><p>He led her to an ugly squatting stone gargoyle on the third floor. "Wait here." He said sternly before drifting up through the gargoyle and leaving Cornelia shivering in the hallway.</p><p>Was it true after all? Was she really as crazy as her mother? She hadn't considered the reality behind setting fire to Justin's chair, and she had wanted to hurt him, just not that much. She bit her lip anxiously, filled with the urge to run from the corridor before Professor Dumbledore could reach her. Only the knowledge that she had nowhere to run to that she wouldn't be found kept her rooted to the spot.</p><p>After what felt like forever the gargoyle suddenly jumped into life and began turning with a low grating sound revealing a winding stone staircase leading up; Upon the staircase stood the remarkably intimidating figure of Professor Dumbledore.</p><p>He wore long robes of deep blue velvet and scattered silver stars, and his face look grave behind his long white beard and half-moon spectacles. "Good afternoon Cornelia, please follow me." Cornelia moved automatically after him up the staircase and into a beautifully cosy round room filled with comfortable and elegant furniture, glittering trinkets and the walls lined with portraits.</p><p>She stood gaping around at the room, momentarily forgetting the seriousness of her predicament, before Dumbledore made a polite noise from his chair behind his desk and gestured at another chair in front of it. She slid into it obediently, not daring to make direct eye contact with the Headmaster.</p><p>"I'm sorry to meet you for the first time under such circumstances Cornelia." His voice was kind and he didn't sound angry, more sad. She didn't know what to say so just bowed her head and looked at her hands that twisted nervously around each other. "May I ask what happened in your History of Magic class with Justin Finch-Fletchley?"</p><p>"Um, Justin's chair set on fire and he – he fell into it."</p><p>"Simply fell?" Dumbledore asked curiously and Cornelia's eyes danced up to meet his piercing blue ones. Although his voice was kind his eyes were hard and serious and her heart thumped uncomfortably against her ribs.</p><p>"It looked like someone had tied his shoelaces together with his friends, Sir." She said quickly, her voice shaking.</p><p>"How do you think his chair came to be suddenly engulfed in flames?" Dumbledore asked keeping that frighteningly soft tone.</p><p>"I don't know, Sir." She whispered to her knees.</p><p>"Hmmm." She chanced another glance up and Dumbledore was still watching her over the top of his steepled fingers. "Professor Binns has informed me that Justin is under the impression that you were the one who set his chair on fire." The statement hung in the air and Cornelia continued to glare resolutely at her knees. "Why would he be under that impression?"</p><p>The silence stretched between them as Cornelia's mind whirred. She knew she would have to answer. "He thinks I'm crazy." She eventually said, her voice cracking with emotion and she was mortified to find her eyes filling with tears. She clutched her hands together, her nails digging painfully into the skin.</p><p>"Why does he think that?"</p><p>"Because-" Much to her horror, Cornelia's tears burst their bank and streamed down her face. "Because my mother is crazy."</p><p>There was a moment of quiet before Dumbledore shifted and a box of tissues came into Cornelia's line of sight. "Please help yourself." He said kindly and she did, furiously wiping at her traitorous eyes. It had been the first time she had verbally acknowledged to another person the insults that had followed her around Hogwarts since her first evening there, and the weight that had been building inside her with every whisper she had encountered had suddenly become unbearable.</p><p>Dumbledore waited patiently until Cornelia's tears had subsided somewhat before speaking again. "It can be an enormous burden to carry our parent's legacy." She looked up at him, shocked by his warm words and even more surprised by the sad smile on his lined face. "Especially when we do not identify with that legacy."</p><p>After a moment Cornelia nodded, the tears threatening to fall again. "Yes." Her voice was so small.</p><p>"Do you believe you are crazy Cornelia?" He asked and Cornelia shook her head vigorously.</p><p>"No. I don't." Her voice found a little more power in the statement.</p><p>"Nor do I." And for the first time Cornelia returned his smile with a shaky small one of her own. "Now as for Mr. Finch-Fletchley, it is unclear who is responsible for the incident. Would you have any ideas who it may be?"</p><p>She shook her head after a moment's hesitation. No matter the rapport Dumbledore may have built, she couldn't be sure if he would expel her if he found out the truth.</p><p>"I see." She could feel his piercing eyes on hers again and she was certain he could see right through her lie. "Well, whoever it was I am sure they can now see how incredibly important it is not to inflict pain upon another student. Whether intentional or not." His voice took on an authoritative overlay and Cornelia was now certain that he knew she was responsible for setting fire to Justin and yet for some reason, perhaps sympathy, he was allowing her to walk away unpunished.</p><p>"Yes, Sir." She murmured.</p><p>"No doubt Mr Finch-Fletchley will be upset after the events of today, so please do not hesitate to let me or any of the professors know if he behaves unreasonably towards you." She nodded biting back her thoughts that she certainly would not be running to a professor if Justin bothered her again. Besides, she suspected that he would be altogether too terrified of her to try anything again.</p><p>Cornelia left Professor Dumbledore's office on legs of jelly, making her way shakily down to the common room. She felt a bizarre combination of extreme relief and the previous shame towards her actions and vowed never to plan anything so extreme with Theodore again.</p><p>She passed a few people on her journey and it seemed that some were literally changing their path to give her a wide berth, their eyes wide and staring before looking away quickly when she glanced over at them. Her relieved bubble burst as she realised that most of the school probably thought she had set fire to Justin by now (which she had), and she would go back to being insane Cornelia Lestrange which she wasn't altogether certain that she was undeserving of.</p><p>It was a different story when she finally slumped into the common room and was met with scattered applause and cheers. Slytherin students from all years were grinning over at her and congratulating her on putting the mudblood in his place. Cornelia felt completely overwhelmed as Draco rushed over, the only one seemingly not overjoyed by the situation, his forehead creased with worry. She hadn't realised that Justin was a muggle-born, and she wasn't sure how she felt about people's interpretation of why she had done what she had done.</p><p>"Are you okay?" Draco murmured in her ear and she nodded vacantly. "Let's go for a walk." He suggested, steering her back out of the common room. Cornelia let him, feeling like she would probably prefer the fearful stares to the impressed grins of her fellow Slytherins.</p><p>She kept her eyes on the ground as they made their way out of the castle and into the bitterly cold evening. Draco made up for her lack of confidence by glaring angrily at anyone who looked in their direction, and he didn't speak until they were safely away from any eavesdroppers.</p><p>"What did Dumbledore say?" He asked.</p><p>Cornelia just shook her head and stared into the dark choppy waters that ran through the grounds, the cold wind whipping at her face.</p><p>"You're not expelled are you?" Draco spoke again quietly, touching her arm gently.</p><p>"No. I'm not in trouble at all." She croaked.</p><p>"Well that's good isn't it?"</p><p>"I suppose." A lump had formed in her throat again and she desperately tried to force it back down.</p><p>Draco went quiet for a moment, peering into her face. Eventually he sighed and pulled her into a hug which she shakily sunk into. "It was Nott's idea wasn't it?" He mumbled into her back, his voice bitter.</p><p>She shook her head again. "No." There was no need to drag Theodore into this now.</p><p>Draco laughed unpleasantly. "Yeah right. We're family remember? I know you."</p><p>Cornelia ripped herself away from him and glared at him, her sadness quickly changing into fury at Draco's pathetic jealousy in a moment like this. "Then you'll remember who my mother is then right? Or were you so pampered that you forgot about nasty, crazy Aunt Bellatrix?!"</p><p>"What does that have to do with anything?" Draco flushed at the insult and all of Cornelia's confusion, hurt and shame rushed to the surface and focused in on Draco. She wanted to hurt him, to make him feel as bad as she did.</p><p>"Everything! You wouldn't know would you? You're so spoilt by mummy and daddy that you couldn't even begin to imagine what it feels like not having everything handed to you!"</p><p>Draco backed up, Cornelia had only yelled at him a couple of times in their lives and never as venomously as this. "You think everything belongs to you don't you?" Without realising she had pulled out her wand and was waving it manically in the air as she gesticulated. "Do you think I belong to you?!" Her voice was steadily reaching a screech.</p><p>"No! What is wrong with you?"</p><p>"WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME?!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, her voice echoing around the quiet grounds and alarming a flock of birds out of a nearby tree, red sparks flying from the end of her wand. "MY SO CALLED FAMILY!"</p><p>The quiet rushed back in around her words, nothing but the beating of the birds wings and the bubbling of the water. It lay suffocatingly around them, and Draco's stunned expression was illuminated by her blazing wand.</p><p>For the second time that day Cornelia felt like she had been slapped around the face with reality and the familiar whoosh of shame flooded through her. Her wand fizzled and dimmed and she took a ragged deep breath.</p><p>"Well I'll leave you alone then." Draco finally found his voice and spat out before turning on his heel and storming back up towards the castle without a backwards glance.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I love Draco in this chapter. He's such a little sweetheart to Cornelia whilst also remaining that little shit that we all love to hate. It really hurt me to upset him with Cornelia's breakdown. But anyway! We might have started to get a better idea of Cornelia's nature in this chapter (I keep on wanting to say episode. It does feel like I'm watching a drama whilst I'm writing it!), especially around her quick temper. Now who does that remind us of? Also not sure about Theodore, he handled that whole situation with Justin like a real slippery Slytherin didn't he? Haven't seen hide nor hair of him since it all went tits up! Justin really does irritate me in the films/books so it was fun seeing him being a dickhead and getting punished for it. Can't wait to do the same to Colin Creevey heh. It was also Cornelia's first interaction with Dumbledore which I really enjoyed seeing unfold. Dumbledore's another one who just writes himself.</p><p>I hope you enjoyed! Until next time.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. I Missed You</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Cornelia had never felt so alone as she did that evening. By the time she got back to the common room neither Draco nor Theodore were anywhere to be seen, and Cornelia headed straight to the dormitory, climbing into bed and pulling the covers over her head.</p><p>Whilst Theodore approached her cautiously the next day, Draco refused to even look at her. Theodore didn't share her concern for crossing the line, and she didn't bring up the guilt she felt about the situation. He was more impressed that she had left the Headmaster's office punishment free.</p><p>"It wasn't like he got that badly burnt, and Madam Pomfrey healed him in a second." Theodore had said dismissively, and then proceeded to congratulate her on the power of her fire rune.</p><p>Cornelia was distracted. She felt doubly awful for both Justin and Draco and Theodore's words just made her feel worse. Try as she might to retain the defence mechanism Aunt Cissy had taught her, chin up and gaze down, she often found that her mind had wandered and she was scrunched anxiously in on herself.</p><p>By the end of the day it was clear that Draco wasn't going to approach her and Cornelia was torn about what to do. On one hand she felt awful for how she had treated him, especially when he had been the only one that had comforted her, but on the other hand she had never had to be the one to apologise before. No matter whose fault it had been when they had fallen out previously, Draco had always been the one to come crawling back, often with a gift of cake or something else delicious.</p><p>Days passed and the castle around them was transformed into some kind of grotto in time for Christmas, and still Draco stubbornly refused to acknowledge Cornelia even existed. Theodore had tried to push her for answers on what had happened between the two of them, but Cornelia had refused to share, too ashamed to repeat what she had said. She knew she was also being stubborn by not apologising, but the more time that passed the more difficult it became.</p><p>Eventually the time came for Christmas break and Cornelia and Draco still hadn't said a word to each other. It had been 2 weeks since Cornelia had screamed at him, and now she was faced with a week alone in the manor with him. She sat with Theodore in a separate compartment on the train home, and nervously emerged onto the platform to see Draco already being embraced by Lucius and Narcissa. Lucius caught sight of her as she approached slowly and smiled warmly at her, patting her affectionately on the shoulder when she was within reach.</p><p>"It is good to see you Cornelia. How have you found Hogwarts?"</p><p>Draco side glanced awkwardly at her before turning back to his mother who fussed over him tearfully.</p><p>"I've really enjoyed it Uncle Lucy." Cornelia replied meekly.</p><p>They made their way back to the manor, flooing directly into the entrance hall hearth, and Draco immediately made his way into the sitting room with Aunt Cissy. She seemed to realise that something was amiss between the two of them as she glanced back at Cornelia with a confused frown, who was making her own way up the stairs to her room.</p><p>Dinner was a quiet affair, without much conversation or sounds beside the clinking of their knives and forks. Aunt Cissy kept passing concerned looks between the two of them and sharing meaningful glances with Uncle Lucy.</p><p>When they had finished eating and stood around the table waiting for Lucius to close the door of his study behind him, she turned to Cornelia. "Would you join me in the library please Cornelia?"</p><p>Cornelia nodded and followed her into the grand room. It was cold and dark in the library, but with a wave of Narcissa's wand a fire burst into the grate and the chandelier threw the room into light. Every inch of wall was covered from floor to ceiling with bookshelves, and the room smelt like slightly musty parchment. There was a desk in the centre of the room and comfortable deep sofas surrounding the fireplace, and this was where Narcissa led them to.</p><p>"Why don't you tell me about your time at Hogwarts." She said kindly before snapping her fingers. With a crack Dobby appeared cringing before them, his tea towel as filthy as ever. He saw Cornelia and his ears lifted slightly before drooping quickly when Narcissa snapped "Bring us tea and cakes." He bowed deeply and disappeared before returning swiftly with a delicate blue and bone china set and a platter of scones and cakes.</p><p>Cornelia didn't see why Aunt Cissy and Uncle Lucy were so cruel to Dobby, he had always been kind and nurturing towards her, and she found his big eyes and expressive ears cute. Whilst she was used to the way they treated him and knew better than to say anything, she would always attempt to comfort him later.</p><p>"It has been fine Aunt Cissy, I am enjoying Charms." She said politely.</p><p>"Just fine? Have you met any friends?" Cornelia knew that Aunt Cissy would be working around to finding out what had happened between her and Draco.</p><p>"Yes, I have a friend called Theodore Nott."</p><p>Aunt Cissy's eyebrows raised and she looked impressed. "The Nott child? A good choice of companion." She raised her small cup of steaming tea in praise. "Do you spend time with Draco at school?"</p><p>Cornelia shifted a little in her seat. "Yes Aunt Cissy."</p><p>"You didn't seem to travel together?"</p><p>"No Aunt Cissy, I was with Theodore."</p><p>Aunt Cissy paused whilst she softly placed the cup in its saucer before returning her gaze to Cornelia. "Draco has always been a good friend to you."</p><p>"Y-yes Aunt Cissy."</p><p>"Although it may not seem so, I have always taken great pleasure in how close the two of you are."</p><p>Cornelia felt extremely awkward and didn't answer, simply taking a deep draught of her tea. "Sip please Cornelia and remember your posture." Cornelia sat a little straighter and held the cup and saucer lightly in her lap.</p><p>"Sometimes friends upset each other. They may say things that they do not mean and fall out." She prompted but Cornelia remained quiet, watching Aunt Cissy with the same blank expression she had picked up from Theodore. The silence stretched between them and Cornelia could see Aunt Cissy becoming frustrated. "As it is you two are not simply 'friends', you are our legacy. Together you represent the strength of the Malfoy and Lestrange families and it will not do to show weakness of any kind. Do you understand?"</p><p>Cornelia frowned faintly, she really didn't. "Not really Aunt Cissy."</p><p>"I want you to make up with Draco."</p><p>Cornelia opened her mouth to argue and Aunt Cissy raised a hand, silencing her immediately. "I do not care for who said what or who is to blame, you will apologise."</p><p>Cornelia scowled, her insides churning angrily. She despised being told what to do by Aunt Cissy and she wished she hadn't come back to the manor for Christmas.</p><p>"Do you think I agree with everything Lucius says?" Aunt Cissy continued and Cornelia resisted the urge to shrug. "No. But I hold my tongue and keep a united front. Why do you think that is?"</p><p>"To keep Uncle Lucy happy?"</p><p>Aunt Cissy smiled tightly. "That is simply a beneficial side effect. It is because together we cannot be beat. Even though we are bonded by marriage, do you think that fortress would be impenetrable if we didn't work together?"</p><p>"But who are you fighting?" Cornelia asked, even more confused than before.</p><p>Aunt Cissy laughed lightly and leant forward to pat Cornelia's knee. "Anyone who isn't us, darling."</p><p>Cornelia waited until later that evening, her stomach full of butterflies as she listened out for Draco entering his room. It wasn't until 1am when she still hadn't heard anything did she stick her head out of her own door. His door was shut, meaning he had snuck into bed without her hearing a thing. The butterflies swooped sickeningly as she grabbed the cake she had rescued from the assortment Dobby had provided earlier and tiptoed across the hall.</p><p>She was right outside his door before realising that her and Draco hadn't shared a bed in months, and all of a sudden the thought felt awkward. She hovered for some time wondering what to do before forcefully pushing away her worries and sliding in through the door.</p><p>She didn't climb straight into bed as she usually would have done but instead tiptoed around to look at Draco's face, scared to break the peace of the room. She had no idea how Draco was going to react to her, never had they fallen out for more than a few hours, never mind weeks.</p><p>Finally she whispered "Draco?"</p><p>Draco's sleeping face twitched slightly and she repeated his name a little louder. His eyes fluttered open and then he sat up sharply at the sight of her, scowling deeply. "What are you doing?" His whisper was sharp and Cornelia winced, she had no idea what to say so instead she held out the cake wrapped in a napkin. Draco took it from her looking confused as he unwrapped the sticky parcel. "You woke me up to give me cake?" He asked mockingly after she didn't explain.</p><p>Cornelia took a deep breath, her eyes on her feet as she shuffled nervously, before saying quickly "I came to say sorry."</p><p>"What for?" Draco asked and she knew that he was trying to drag out her apology to make her suffer and that she had to endure it. She forced herself to look into his face and recognised his expression as the mean look he wore around Hogwarts.</p><p>"For shouting at you." She said sullenly in response to his expression.</p><p>Draco shifted, and she could see that he was enjoying watching her struggle. "Not for what you were actually shouting?"</p><p>She bit back the anger that was simmering in her chest, she hated Draco mocking her, he never mocked her. "For that too."</p><p>"Which part?" His smirk was growing into a smile and his eyes were no longer hard. Cornelia knew that he was going to forgive her, she just had to give him what he wanted.</p><p>"For saying that you were spoilt and that you were what was wrong with me." Her own sourness melted away with his and after a moment's pause Draco pulled back the covers and shifted to the left to make room for her, he seemed satisfied.</p><p>Once she was comfortably laid on her side face to face with Draco, he finally smiled. "It's about time." He muttered. "Do you really think I'm spoilt?"</p><p>"Yes, but I don't mind." She grinned back at him and he shoved her arm playfully. "I missed you actually." She added awkwardly and Draco grabbed her hand.</p><p>"I missed you too."</p><p>The Christmas break was quite enjoyable after that. It seemed that Uncle Lucy and Aunt Cissy had dialled down their disciplinary levels with Cornelia and Aunt Cissy was particularly pleased to see her and Draco getting along again. It was nice to have one-on-one time with Draco again and there didn't seem to be any sign of the mean-spirited Draco all Christmas.</p><p>Life back at Hogwarts seemed to reach a new equilibrium as well after the break, and it seemed that the students had short memories. Cornelia noticed half the amount of glares and stares she had been used to receiving. Draco seemed to accept Cornelia and Theodore's friendship with a little more grace than before their argument, and Cornelia no longer felt tense when she went to spend time with Theodore.</p><p>Theodore tried to engage her with several more plots, including one to punish a Gryffindor girl by the name of Lavender Brown who had insulted Blaise Zabini's mother earlier that day. Cornelia, who had no attachment to Zabini, wasn't invested enough to pursue and was a little worried about plotting against anyone after the Justin incident, who literally turned and walked in the opposite direction if they ever caught sight of each other in the halls. She suggested that he send her a howler calling her the same things she had called Zabini's mother and washed her hands of it, sitting back to enjoy the screaming envelope with the rest of the school the next day. She disregarded the rest of his suggestions at large scale plots with similar harmless (at least physically) ideas that seemed to satisfy Theodore.</p><p>News got back around to Zabini about her involvement with the howler and for the first time since Cornelia and Theodore had become friends, he joined them for dinner.</p><p>"May I join you?" He had asked quietly, catching Cornelia's eye until she nodded and then slid into the space beside her. "I don't think we've actually been formally introduced, I'm Blaise." He held out his hand and Cornelia shook it firmly, familiar with the formalities of a noble house.</p><p>"Nice to meet you, I'm Cornelia."</p><p>"Oh, I know who you are. I think I might owe you a favour."</p><p>Cornelia raised an eyebrow at Theodore who shrugged with a smirk. "What did you have in mind?"</p><p>"Is there anyone I might be able to 'help' you with?" Blaise spoke in the same low tones that Cornelia and Theodore communicated in.</p><p>Cornelia smiled, finding herself slipping into a similar façade that Draco wore, one of condescension. "Nobody that I couldn't manage."</p><p>Blaise looked faintly impressed. "Anything you want then, within reason of course."</p><p>Cornelia looked blankly at Blaise and found her eyes wandering past him to where Draco sat further down the table chatting with Croyle (a nickname her and Theodore had created). "I think I'll hold you to that offer." She finally said and Blaise nodded respectfully before slipping into a more casual conversation with the two of them.</p><p>Blaise continued to spend time with her and Theodore after that, and Cornelia slowly began to realise, as days passed into weeks, that she had been made an unspoken leader to the two boys. She experienced, for the first time in her life, a sense of power, and she could now see why Draco kept Croyle around. She found that she always had the final say in any ideas or plots, and was consulted immediately for advice or if anybody bothered them. She found that she was attracting far fewer glares from younger students, most of them looking away quickly, and the ones that did glare seemed to encounter far more nasty scenarios than the ones that didn't. She felt protected, although she was sure that Blaise would turn coat if she showed any sign of weakness.</p><p>She didn't particularly trust Blaise as he didn't have the, admittedly relatively loose, morals that her and Theodore shared, and instead seemed to just enjoy watching people suffer whether they deserved it or not. However, he did have a wicked sense of humour, and often had Cornelia cackling in the middle of class with some sarcastic comment. He was also incredibly charismatic and could twist most people he spoke to around his finger. He was a very good student, although he shared Cornelia's distaste for the outdoors, and Cornelia found she had an appreciated study partner in him.</p><p>However, now it appeared it wasn't Draco that she had to worry about, as the boys seemed lost when she left them to spend time with Draco, something she felt no urge to lessen now she had friends of her own. Nobody could replace her cousin. Theodore and Blaise could always be found lingering nearby, shooting impatient glances in their direction and barely talking. It seemed that she had transformed two loners into quite the dependent companions.</p><p>As it was, she had quite an uneventful rest of her year, mainly avoiding any grander scale punishments and resorting to cunning and untraceable smaller ones. She adamantly avoided Neville Longbottom, who appeared to have palled up with Harry, Ron and Hermione and so Draco despised him by association. She found she was forced to play the difficult game of somehow distracting Draco where she could from picking on him, which was difficult as Neville was an easy target for Draco. She was sure that Theodore at least had picked up on her tactics with his sharp eyes, as he never suggested that they play with Neville.</p><p>Draco continued on his war path with Harry and co, and Cornelia avoided getting involved where she could. That was except for one time, when Draco had gotten into a fight with them at a quidditch match (that Cornelia and Blaise avoided) and had come back sporting a black eye. Cornelia had almost blown a fuse in the fury that engulfed her at the sight of him as he stormed back into the common room, but she simply stood up, pointed at his eye and asked coldly "Who did that?"</p><p>When Draco had told her, her only response was "Right" before she had turned on her heel and ushered Theodore and Blaise together with a sharp call and stalking from the common room with them hot on her tail. Draco had watched her leave with a wicked smile on his face, he knew that Potter and Weasley were about to taste the wrath of Cornelia Lestrange, a revenge much sweeter than anything he could dream up.</p><p>Theodore and Blaise had been a little intimidated by her anger that she had suppressed in front of Draco, her wild curls almost seemed to fizz, standing statically up from her head, her jaw clenched and eyes flashing wildly as she hissed furious plans of how she could inflict the worst pain possible on Potter and Weasley. Sharing multiple startled looks, the tables were turned as the boys had to work together to calm her down and convince her to go along with a plan that just fell short of grievous bodily harm.</p><p>In the end, Cornelia and Blaise combined managed to convince Peeves the poltergeist to follow the Gryffindor trio for a full day, tripping them, pelting them with objects and ink and shouting loudly in their ears, finally finishing off by tipping a jar of itching powder over their heads as they entered their final class, a sight that fully satisfied Draco, and half satisfied a still fuming Cornelia.</p><p>Pansy had been subdued for a small amount of time after her take down earlier in the year but had soon scooped up Sally-Anne to replace Millicent and therefore gained back some of her previous swagger. Whilst Sally-Anne was no match for the muscle that Millicent provided, she had a sharp tongue and was pretty fearless. Pansy had become a regular participant in Cornelia, Theodore and Blaise's activities, although she never realised it, and it could be said that she didn't have as easy a time of her first year as she had perhaps hoped.</p><p>End of year examinations approached, and even Theodore joined Cornelia and Blaise in studying anxiously. Cornelia was pleased that Blaise excelled in Potions and Transfiguration, whilst Cornelia was best at Charms and Defence Against the Dark Arts. Theodore was surprisingly proficient in Herbology, remembering how to look after a great deal of plants when he seemingly took no notice during their classes. He just shrugged off Cornelia's observations saying it was obvious to him. They worked remarkably well as a team, and Cornelia felt confident if not slightly nervous as she walked into her first exam.</p><p>None of them really liked to discuss the exams afterwards, preferring to move outside now the weather had warmed considerably. Cornelia and Blaise created a game where they would enchant a frisbee to fling itself in unpredictable patterns whilst the other person attempted to catch, block or pin it. Cornelia had forgotten how much she used to enjoy running around the grounds with Draco, breaking Aunt Cissy's strict instructions to play tag or hide and seek with him, and she easily kept up with Blaise. Theodore preferred to watch, not enjoying physical exercise, and their activity even attracted Draco and Croyle, who for the first time all year, joined forces with Cornelia, Theodore and Blaise between and after exams.</p><p>It was the best fun she had had all year, and she began to dread the fast-approaching last day of term. She didn't want to return to the cold manor where her every move was watched and picked apart, and where she was unable to express herself as freely as she did in Hogwarts. She wondered whether she would even be allowed to see Theodore or Blaise during the summer holidays. Whilst Draco and Theodore didn't interact, it seemed that he and Blaise got along well, although Cornelia was yet to find a person who disliked Blaise if he put the charm on them. She comforted herself with the thought that Draco would probably be willing to invite them over under the guise of his own friends if it came down to it.</p><p>After their exams, gossip circulated that shook most student's end of exam exultation. The rumour was that somehow Harry Potter and his friends had snuck into the third-floor corridor and come face to face with Voldemort who had been possessing Professor Quirrell all year. Draco was the one to tell her, his face twisted with spite as he spoke.</p><p>"And obviously the whole school believes it. There's no way Potter would be able to come away from facing the Dark Lord alive. It's probably a rumour that Potter started, he obviously wanted to finish his first year with a bang." Draco continued whilst Cornelia stared at him in shock. It seemed everyone in the common room was talking about the same subject.</p><p>"Wait… Professor Quirrell? Is that true?" Cornelia pressed, unconcerned about Harry Potter's wellbeing or popularity.</p><p>Draco shrugged. "That's what they're saying."</p><p>"Who?"</p><p>"I dunno. I've heard it from a few different people. And Quirrell's nowhere to be seen. All of the professors look pretty serious." His voice was sulky and Cornelia left him to it, knowing she wouldn't get anymore useful information out of him when he was in that kind of mood. She instead went to seek out Theodore, who looked like he had been waiting for her to turn up.</p><p>"Have you heard?" He asked lowly.</p><p>"Do you think it's true?"</p><p>"I don't know about Harry Potter but I think there's some truth to the Dark Lord possessing Professor Quirrell."</p><p>"Why do you think that?"</p><p>"I've been listening to Leo." He gestured his head in the direction of the Slytherin Head Boy. "He's been informed by the Professors to be on high alert for any suspicious activity and to try and suppress any rumours. Of course he's been blabbing his mouth off about it to anyone who'll listen."</p><p>Cornelia nodded grimly, her eyes wide. She couldn't help the tremor of fear that ran through her at the thought of being within touching distance of the Dark Lord all year. She had been brought up with stories of his greatness but also detailed accounts of his totalitarian style of ruling, something she had tasted through her own upbringing and was looking forward to escaping entirely. She couldn't help but acknowledge the relief that swooped through her that Harry Potter had defeated him again, if the rumours were to be believed.</p><p>The evening of the end of year feast arrived and everyone was in high spirits, especially the Slytherins who had won the House Cup. Cornelia was completely content placed between Draco and Theodore, that was until Professor Dumbledore stood to make his speech. In a coincidence that just so happened to tip the scale in Gryffindor's favour for the House Cup, Dumbledore unorthodoxly awarded Harry, Hermione, Ron and Neville extra house points for their bravery, cunning and friendship. Cornelia was amongst the rest of the Slytherins who seethed at the blatant and outrageous favouritism, but also saw the act as a confirmation for the showdown between Harry and the Dark Lord.</p><p>It wasn't the ideal ending to the year for the Slytherins, who could no longer enjoy their final meal together due to the unfairness of it all and couldn't look across the hall without making eye contact with a gloating Gryffindor. The evening came to a close quickly and before they knew it they were on the train home the next morning. This time Cornelia, Blaise, Theodore, Draco and Croyle all shared a compartment. Even with their snatched victory and approaching separation, a bubble of happiness inflated inside Cornelia as she laughed and chatted with all of the people she held dear.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>We've reached the end of Cornelia's first year at Hogwarts! I must say that it has taken much longer to write than I expected but I think it was worth it, don't you? We've got to see the beginnings of a little gang forming, maybe not so little if Cornelia et al and Draco et al join forces! It makes sense to me that Cornelia is mainly friends with boys as her only friend growing up has been Draco, I also can't see her responding well to girls' ways of fighting (bitchiness) can you? I hope it didn't seem too rushed after Christmas break, but really like I said in the notes of the first chapter, school is pretty straight forward for Cornelia in the first two years as she isn't involved in Harry Potter's adventures, and 22000 words seemed like enough for one year. Let's see how she gets on with a basilisk, an extremely prejudiced Draco and scheming Uncle Lucy shall we?</p><p>Until next time.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Well, Well, Well</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The summer after Cornelia's first year at Hogwarts was a slow one. It was a difficult transition from the freedom of Hogwarts to the Malfoy manor where she was consistently under the watchful eyes of Narcissa and Lucius. Narcissa wasted no time in starting their etiquette classes again claiming that Cornelia's manners had taken a nose-dive during her months away from home, although they were reduced to once fortnightly.</p><p>Although she was now allowed to roam the grounds with Draco if she wished, if they were caught running or wrestling or anything deemed 'un-ladylike' then she would be forced straight back inside. She was shushed regularly as she attempted to join conversations between Lucius and Draco, reduced to only being allowed to ask polite questions or answer when spoken to. Draco was as sympathetic as always, but it was so routine now that neither of them attempted to rebel, he instead made sure to ask her opinion when the two of them were alone later. But that just lead to Cornelia squirming in her seat when he posed her comments as his own to his father the next day.</p><p>Cornelia felt an almost permanent fury at the unfairness of it all simmering just below the surface, and it didn't help that Narcissa would comment on her dark expression and demand she "stop pouting".</p><p>On top of this, the conversations between Draco and Lucius became increasingly triggering, often leading her having to physically bite down on her tongue to stop herself from joining in. It seemed that the combination of Draco's account of Dumbledore's favouriting Harry, Ron and Hermione at the end of year feast and a run in at the ministry with Arthur Weasley, Ron's father, had inspired a thirst for revenge in Lucius, both towards the Weasley's and Dumbledore.</p><p>Cornelia found watching her Uncle plot fascinating as she recognised the similarities between him and herself. Having discovered her own enjoyment of planning revenge against those who deserved it during her first year, she felt that she had a lot to add to the conversation. Draco on the other hand was too obvious and childish in his suggestions which were always brushed off by Lucius.</p><p>Despite not really understanding why Lucius despised the Weasleys' so much, having seen for herself how a muggle born was indistinguishable from a pure-blood most of the time and therefore not really identifying with the term "blood-traitor", she was filled with the child like desire to impress her elders, to cross the bridge between her and Uncle Lucy. However, she wasn't given the opportunity to do so, and so instead watched bitterly as Draco displayed the same desire and held it against him. Suddenly "mud-blood" was his new favourite word and his previously non-existent scorn for muggleborns bloomed in what Cornelia thought was an over-the-top display meant to impress his father.</p><p>One evening, after weeks and weeks of sitting through Uncle Lucy's rants about the antics of Arthur Weasley, how disgracefully poor and overpopulated their family was and anything else he could possibly think of to insult them with, he was surprisingly quiet, eating his meal with a practically serene expression.</p><p>"Have you had any luck getting the ministry to raid the Weasley house, father?" Draco attempted to start up the usual conversation.</p><p>Lucius just smirked and shook his head. "There's no need for such measures any more Draco."</p><p>"Why?" Draco looked significantly put out.</p><p>"I have other plans for the Weasleys." He and Aunt Cissy shared a conspiratorial smile.</p><p>"Well, what is it?" Draco eventually asked.</p><p>"That is not for you children to know." Lucius eyed Draco and Cornelia in an almost threatening way, it was a look that would have shut up Cornelia in a second, but of course Draco didn't have as much to fear as she.</p><p>"But father-!"</p><p>"Enough!" Lucius snapped authoritatively. "All will become apparent in due time I'm sure." He continued in a sly voice, sharing another look with Aunt Cissy.</p><p>Draco sulked for the rest of dinner and Cornelia had to put up with an evening of him going on and on about how unfair it was not to be let in on the plan with the Weasley's, he was the one who had to put up with them day in and day out at school after all. Finally, Cornelia had had enough and snapped "Oh yes, it must be terrible to be excluded, I couldn't imagine how that feels!" Draco just glared at her before storming off to his bedroom for the rest of the night.</p><p>As the year before, towards the end of the summer holidays two owls arrived clutching Draco and Cornelia's letters of requirements for their second year at Hogwarts. Shortly after this Aunt Cissy and Uncle Lucy decided to take the pair to Diagon Alley to purchase their supplies as well as new robes for the year ahead.</p><p>When they arrived Uncle Lucy whisked Draco off towards Knockturn Alley to 'tend to some business' whilst Aunt Cissy dragged Cornelia towards Madam Malkin's to get her fitted for new robes. Cornelia had grown substantially during the previous year, and had had to endure an incredibly awkward coming of age conversation with Aunt Cissy earlier in the holidays. When she was happily fitted with new silk robes, they headed off to reconverge with Uncle Lucy and Draco at Flourish and Blotts.</p><p>When they arrived, they found a large line of people stretching out of the door, which was an unusual occurrence. Aunt Cissy took one look at the queue and pushed Draco and Cornelia towards Uncle Lucy before whirling off to do some shopping of her own. Uncle Lucy sighed at the sign that claimed that Gilderoy Lockhart was conducting a book signing inside.</p><p>"Isn't he the one who's written most of our books for this year?" Cornelia asked and Draco nodded.</p><p>It took some time for them to make their way inside the small shop, and Uncle Lucy ordered them to remain on the stairs out of the way whilst he purchased their books. It was here where the two of them lounged against the bannister, Draco filling in Cornelia about his visit to Borgin and Burkes with his father when a booming voice reached their ears. "It can't be Harry Potter?"</p><p>They broke off their conversation and watched as the man who must have been Gilderoy Lockhart pulled Harry from the crowd and held him forcefully to his side whilst a photographer flittered manically around them, his camera clicking and flashing furiously. Cornelia side glanced at Draco and was unsurprised to see the muscles in his jaw clenched as he ground his teeth.</p><p>When Harry re-joined what must have been the entire Weasley family and began to make his way towards the exit, Draco shot down the stairs towards him in an entirely predictable move. Cornelia followed behind him wearily, holding her breath.</p><p>"Bet you loved that, didn't you Potter?" Draco called and Cornelia cringed internally as Harry and the red-haired young girl he was with turned to look at them. "Famous Harry Potter, can't even go into a bookshop without making the front page!" The jealousy in Draco's words was clear to Cornelia and her hand automatically went to the wand she had slipped through the loops of her belt around her waist. She could see the same look of loathing Draco wore reflected on Potter's face and she didn't like it.</p><p>"Leave him alone, he didn't want all that!" Replied the younger girl, her face almost the same colour as her hair.</p><p>"Potter, you've got yourself a girlfriend!" Draco said jeeringly, throwing a mocking grin back at Cornelia who just looked on blankly. She was currently replaying the words Aunt Cissy had told her the year before like a mantra, that she had to show a united front with Draco, even if she disagreed with him.</p><p>From the crowd two more familiar faces joined them and Cornelia's grip on her wand tightened. "Oh it's you." Spat Ron Weasley, glaring at them both. "Bet you're surprised to see Harry here, eh?"</p><p>She was sure that Draco was as confused by his words as she was, but neither of them showed it. Cornelia took the last step down so that she was beside Draco whilst Draco quipped "Not as surprised as I am to see you in a shop, Weasley. I suppose your parents will go hungry for a month to pay for that lot."</p><p>Cornelia immediately knew he had gone too far and quickly stepped in front of him, her wand raising whilst Hermione and Harry dived onto Ron to stop him from lunging at Draco. He froze as Cornelia placed her wand inches from his right eyeball. "Enough." She murmured, channelling Uncle Lucy's tone at the dinner table days earlier.</p><p>At that moment a man's voice called out "Ron! What's going on over here?!" Everyone automatically retreated from each other a little at the presence of an adult, Cornelia being the last to lower her wand slightly but still keeping it casually pointed at Ron.</p><p>They looked over to see a man who must have been Arthur Weasley, a kindly looking older man wearing clothes that had definitely seen better days and followed by two red haired twins. All of their eyes were on Cornelia's wand.</p><p>Luckily at that moment Uncle Lucy appeared from behind Draco and Cornelia, placing a hand on Cornelia's shoulder and saying in a mocking voice "Well, well, well – Arthur Weasley." At his touch Cornelia lowered her wand immediately, tucking it swiftly back into her belt.</p><p>She watched her Uncle advance on the Weasleys with baited breath, wondering if she were about the witness his plan of revenge unfolding. Instead, she found herself immediately surprised at Uncle Lucy's apparent lack of tact as he openly goaded Arthur, and she resisted the mad urge to laugh as she realised father and son were both as obviously villainous as eachother. She wasn't completely surprised when Arthur threw himself at Uncle Lucy, although it was shocking to see the man that had always appeared to be so dangerous and untouchable to her being showered with falling books and punches.</p><p>Cornelia found that she had retreated back up the staircase by several steps by the time Hagrid waded into the scene and forcefully pulled apart the two men. It was perhaps because of this aerial view that she saw so clearly Uncle Lucy thrust two books where there used to be one back into the young girl's cauldron before he swept her and Draco from the shop.</p><p>Uncle Lucy's rage was palpable, and Cornelia and Draco were silent as he stormed towards the nearest floo point, silently gesturing for Cornelia and Draco to go first. They both stumbled into the entrance hall hearth and quickly stepped aside for Lucius to emerge and stride down the hall straight into his study.</p><p>After the loud slam of his study door behind him, Cornelia and Draco shared a long look. Draco looked pale and shaken and Cornelia quickly took his hand. They made their way wordlessly into the quiet grounds, the buzz from Flourish and Blotts still echoing around their minds.</p><p>"Well that was something." Cornelia broke the silence as they took a seat under their favourite willow tree.</p><p>"How dare he touch father?" Draco hissed and Cornelia considered him carefully. She knew that he idolised his father but was he really so blind as to not see how Uncle Lucy deserved exactly what he got? She knew now wasn't the time to bring it up though.</p><p>"They really hate each other, don't they?" She said instead.</p><p>"I hate them!" Draco suddenly cried. "I want to hurt them! They won't get away with this!"</p><p>Cornelia couldn't resist the raspberry that escaped her lips then, it was all so ridiculous. Draco's eyes snapped to hers and she quickly raised her hands in defence. "Don't worry, we'll figure something out."</p><p>Draco relaxed a little but still looked furious. Cornelia realised she needed to distract him somehow. "Shall we do a re-enactment?" She grinned mischievously at him and Draco was shocked by her light-heartedness.</p><p>"Wha-?"</p><p>Cornelia leapt up before he could finish his sentence and thrust her chin in the air, miming placing a hand on an imaginary shoulder whilst saying in her best Uncle Lucy voice "Well, well, well – Arthur Weasley."</p><p>Draco gawked up at her from the ground, surprise replacing fury on his face, which egged Cornelia on. She leapt to face the opposite direction and did a mean impression of Arthur Weasley, making him stoop and stare blearily, pushing imaginary glasses up her nose "Lucius?" she quoted in a stupid voice.</p><p>She heard the beginnings of a snicker coming from Draco and continued in her charade until it reached the point of Arthur lunging, then she leant down to grab Draco and pulled him up with her. "Come on then!" She goaded, putting her fists up and dancing from side to side, pleased to see Draco was giggling uncontrollably now. They had a quick wrestle and ended up sprawled panting and laughing on the floor, the events from the afternoon suddenly feeling much less troubling.</p><p>Finally, the day for their departure to Hogwarts came, and both Draco and Cornelia could barely contain their excitement. As soon as they stepped onto the platform, she saw Blaise Zabini stood with his mother near the entrance, and his dark eyes turned to her immediately, a small smile forming on his perfect features as he made his way over, moving elegantly through the crowd. She wasn't sure what it was, but Cornelia noticed his good looks more than she had before the summer, he really stood out.</p><p>As he neared, he held out his hand and she grasped his arm just below the elbow. They both peered intensely into each other's eyes and grinned excitedly. "It's good to see you again." Blaise said and Cornelia agreed earnestly, before they dropped their hold on each other's arms and he turned to Draco, repeating the gesture a little less genuinely.</p><p>A woman who must have been his mother followed fluidly towards them, and Cornelia blinked up at her. It was like staring into a too bright light, her beauty was intense. Her ebony skin shone like polished stone, her plump and shapely lips a glossed, deep purple that matched her cat like eyes. She was tall and her long neck dripped with golden, intricate jewellery. Delicate golden snakes were woven through her black braids that were piled high on her head, and she wore robes that seemed fit for royalty, a deep navy colour with a sheer and embroidered cape that slithered along the floor behind her and a skirt that fell like a waterfall from her waist to the floor.</p><p>Her eyes were upon Lucius and Narcissa, and Narcissa held herself stiffly, stepping closer to Lucius. "Good morning." Her voice was deep and rich, with a melodic accent.</p><p>"Good morning Rosalind, how are you?" Answered Lucius in his silkiest voice.</p><p>"I am well, thank you. Blaise dear, will you introduce us?" She paid no more heed to Aunt Cissy and Uncle Lucy, instead turning her bright gaze to Cornelia and Draco. Cornelia felt like she was rooted to the spot by that gaze.</p><p>"Of course, mother. This here is Draco Malfoy, and this is Cornelia Lestrange." He said with an intonation that suggested that they had discussed Cornelia previously. "This is my mother, Rosalind Zabini." Rosalind's eyes did glitter as she directed them upon Cornelia, and her lips turned upwards in a knowing smile.</p><p>"Delighted to meet you." She seemed to say just to Cornelia and Cornelia struggled to find her voice.</p><p>"It's a pleasure to meet you!" She eventually squeaked in a voice very unlike her usual, and she was surprised to feel a hot flush flooding her face as she fumbled her way into a curtsey.</p><p>Rosalind looked very amused at Cornelia's formalities and she gestured for Cornelia to rise. "Rise child. Blaise had told me much about you, of course." Her hand rested on Blaise's shoulder who was smirking at Cornelia.</p><p>"Oh." Was all Cornelia could think to say and Rosalind laughed, a rumbling laugh that seemed to start from the tips of her toes.</p><p>"Well, we must be getting them on the train." Came Aunt Cissy's sharp voice rang from behind Cornelia, and Rosalind turned much cooler eyes towards her, inclining her head slightly.</p><p>"Certainly." She agreed and turned away with Blaise.</p><p>Cornelia felt a little shellshocked as Aunt Cissy steered them all towards the train and away from Rosalind. "You didn't tell me you were friends with the Zabini child, Cornelia." She said in an accusatory voice to Cornelia.</p><p>"He seems a charming boy." Lucius intercepted and Aunt Cissy grimaced.</p><p>"Oh yes, charming, just like his mother I suppose?" She snapped at Lucius, her tone dripping with sarcasm, and Cornelia and Draco stared in surprise. They had never heard her talk in that way to Lucius.</p><p>Lucius also seemed to notice, and his eyes flashed a metallic blue. "Quite so." He said in a voice that always made Cornelia want to run in the opposite direction.</p><p>And so she did just that, grabbing her luggage and yanking it towards the train whilst saying quickly "Well, goodbye Aunt Cissy, Uncle Lucy! Come on Draco, we need to get a seat on the train before they're all gone!"</p><p>Narcissa tore herself away from the glaring match that her and Lucius seemed to be having to stoop down and lay a tight-lipped kiss on Draco's cheek and throw another angry look in Cornelia's direction. Cornelia took that as her cue to leave and hauled her trunk towards the train.</p><p>She was quickly joined by Blaise again who leant down to give her a hand with the other end of her trunk, grinning mischievously. "So you like my mother then?" He joked and Cornelia felt the tickle of the blush threatening to climb her throat again.</p><p>"Shut up." She muttered but then nodded her head towards his hands and added "Thanks."</p><p>They found Theodore already sat in an empty compartment, hands neatly folded in his lap as he watched the clamouring on the platform outside the window. Cornelia felt another swoop of affection when she laid eyes on him and had to resist from dragging him into a hug, something she and Theodore had never done before. In fact, they had as little physical contact as possible, and she was sure Theodore preferred it that way. Instead, she gave him a large smile as she sat down opposite him. "Theodore! How was your summer?" She asked warmly, and she saw the same warmth in his returning smile.</p><p>"Lonely." He said meaningfully and she laughed lightly. "How was yours?"</p><p>"Long." She imitated his one-word answer and felt a swoop of contentedness. She already felt like she was back home.</p><p>When Draco managed to locate Croyle, he joined the three of them, and they spent the journey catching up and joking. Theodore had heard of Lucius's scuffle with Arthur Weasley through his father and asked Cornelia and Draco what had happened, triggering a rant about the Weasley's from Draco and rolled eyes from Cornelia. She would let Theodore know her true opinion about what had happened some other time. Blaise spoke of his summer of travelling through India with his mother and who he suspected was to be his next stepfather. When Draco asked Blaise how he felt about his mother's line of suitors he simply shrugged before saying "I don't get attached" causing another outbreak of laughter from the group.</p><p>The sky outside darkened as they zoomed through countryside, coming closer and closer to Hogwarts with every passing hour. Eventually the train began to slow and they took it in turns to change into their robes. As they spilled onto the platform with the rest of the students, they began to catch the odd sentence from different students.</p><p>"Did you hear?"</p><p>"Potter and Weasley-"</p><p>"Missed the train!"</p><p>"-weren't on the train!"</p><p>Cornelia and Draco looked at each other, and she saw his previous good mood slip off his features. Sighing, she followed Blaise and Theodore and the rest of the students towards a long line of carriages that didn't appear to be attached to anything. However, when they climbed in and settled, the carriage pulled away with a sensation that was identical to a horse drawn carriage.</p><p>"I hope something awful has happened to Potter and Weasley." Draco muttered darkly and Cornelia ignored him, turning to Theodore and Blaise who sat opposite her.</p><p>"Has anyone ever missed the train before?"</p><p>Blaise shrugged and Theodore shook his head slowly. "Not that I know of. I saw the other Weasleys' on the platform though, they didn't look worried."</p><p>Draco made a disappointed noise and lapsed into brooding silence for the rest of the journey.</p><p>It wasn't until after the feast did the insane rumours reach them that Harry and Ron had, for some reason, made their way to school in a flying car and botched the landing, ending up being almost beaten to death by the whomping willow in the grounds. Draco was beside himself and took himself straight off to bed whilst Cornelia forced herself to stay up with Theodore and Blaise in the common room, looking forward to talking with them away from Draco.</p><p>"It seems like Draco's vendetta against Potter has grown quite a bit over the summer." Theodore observed quietly and Cornelia sighed.</p><p>"Tell me about it. He's been insufferable all summer. Like father like son if you ask me."</p><p>"What do you mean by that?" Blaise asked, stretching his long legs in front of him towards the fire.</p><p>"They're both obsessed with the Weasleys! If I have to listen to another word about how poor they are, I'm going to go over there myself with a leprechaun." Blaise and Theodore both chuckled.</p><p>"Where on earth would you find one of them?" Theodore laughed softly.</p><p>"Whatever the opposite direction to the Weasley's garden is, I'm guessing." She retorted.</p><p>"But seriously, what happened between Lucius and Arthur in Flourish and Blotts?" Theodore asked after a moment.</p><p>Cornelia sighed, her eyes were growing heavy, she was exhausted after their long journey and feasting, but she had been saving what she had seen Lucius do in Flourish and Blotts for Theodore and Blaise, so she forced herself to retell the scenario right up to the point where Lucius dropped two books instead of one back into the younger Weasley girl's cauldron.</p><p>"I was wondering if it had something to do with the revenge he'd been planning all summer, or if that just boiled down to some sarcy comments in a bookshop." She finished. They spent a little time wondering what possible decriminalising properties the book may have held before Theodore yawned widely.</p><p>"Time for bed I think." Cornelia commented, and they all wished each other goodnight before parting for the evening.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Yay, we've started year 2! I got a tiny bit of writers block before I started this chapter, thinking about starting on a whole other book, but once I started on her summer at the manor, I got back into the swing of it pretty easily. The manor parts are actually some of my favourite bits to write I think! I love seeing how strict and old school Narcissa and Lucius are. Also, new favourite character alert - Rosalind?! I didn't even think we'd ever meet her tbh, but as she made her way over on the platform, I was suddenly awash with idolisation myself, and now I'm convinced we'll be seeing quite a bit more of her. I think Cornelia might have a bit of a girl-crush on her too.</p><p>I've realised that the entire first year and chapters up until this one have focussed quite a lot on the darker, more brooding side of Cornelia - I'm looking forward to seeing a bit of a more of her relaxed and happy side this year. After all, what could go wrong?!</p><p>Until next time.</p>
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<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Rosalind</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Cornelia avoided Draco for the next couple of days, his dark mood about Potter and Weasley continuing through the night and being sparked even brighter by an annoying little first year called Colin Creevey whose main goal in life seemed to be to get as many photographs of Harry as possible.</p><p>She spent the time happily catching up with Theodore and Blaise, neither of which had had a particularly enjoyable summer. It was a good opportunity to hear more about their family lives, although Theodore kept a relatively tight lid on his. She got the feeling that there was little love between him and his father, who was apparently quite old and frail with extremely old-fashioned views. Cornelia didn't expect much less from the writer of The Sacred Twenty-Eight. Theodore mentioned that he wasn't really allowed out of his father's sight and didn't add much more to the conversation.</p><p>Blaise on the other hand complained freely of the man her mother was seeing, a Turkish man who was brusque and arrogant, and had taken up the role of tour guide around India, spouting long, disinteresting nonsense about every little detail they had seen.</p><p>"What does your mother see in him?" Cornelia asked and Blaise raised his eyebrows at her as if it were obvious.</p><p>"He's rich?" He replied.</p><p>At the end of her first week, something odd happened to Cornelia. Whilst she received owls every now and then from Aunt Cissy and Uncle Lucy (although not as often as Draco) containing sweets or other treats, she never received letters or deliveries from anybody else; and yet on Friday morning, in swooped a large owl that looked more like an eagle with pointed ears and beak, depositing a letter written in an elegant hand in the middle of her breakfast.</p><p>Confused, Cornelia plucked the letter out of her bacon and considered the handwriting on the outside for a few moments before tentatively opening the letter. Inside it read:</p><p>
  <em>Dearest Cornelia,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>It was truly a pleasure to meet you last week upon Platform 9 3/4. I would have liked to have spoken with you further, but it seemed your Aunt was somewhat bothered by my presence (not unusual for women of her stature, you understand). I hope you do not mind me sending you this letter in the place of the conversation that could have been.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Blaise has spoken of little else other than you during the holidays, which is most surprising behaviour for my son, as I am sure you are aware that he usually tends to keep himself to himself. When it became clear that he was unable to visit you due to the principles of your Aunt and Uncle, he was quite disappointed.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I am aware of the formalities and intricate workings of Noble British Wizarding Families, and whilst I have gone to great lengths to ensure Blaise is able to navigate these with ease, I hope you won't mind me saying that I find elements of their teachings to be distasteful. By this I mean the treatment of women within such structures. We women are not made to be restrained in such a manner, we are not simple creatures to be tamed and trained. From what I have heard from Blaise of your mind, I am sure you will agree.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>It would truly be an insult to our creators if societal pressures were to suffocate your flame, my dear. I would be delighted to show you the true power of womanhood – for the reason men try so hard to suffocate us is through fear, I hope you understand.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I shall eagerly await your reply Cornelia, but also know that if you disagree with what I have said, there is no pressure to respond. Please do as you feel is best.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Yours most sincerely,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Rosalind Zabini</em>
</p><p>Cornelia's breath hitched in her throat as she read the swooping signature at the bottom of the letter, and the odd prickly heat rose in her cheeks again.</p><p>"What is it?" Theodore asked, his brow furrowed in concern.</p><p>Cornelia coughed embarrassedly and had the strongest urge to hide the letter. "Its – erm – it's from your mother, Blaise."</p><p>Blaise spluttered a little on his cereal before he snorted in a very undignified manner. "You're kidding!"</p><p>"No, really." She handed him the letter and his grin widened the further he read. Finally, his eyes swivelled to her and took in her flushed face and the way she was twisting her fingers together. "So, it's not unrequited love after all!" He teased and Cornelia snatched the letter from him with a scowl. Blaise laughed and Theodore watched quietly.</p><p>"It's not my fault you couldn't shut up about me all summer." Cornelia retorted and rather than be embarrassed, Blaise just laughed louder.</p><p>"May I read it?" Theodore eventually asked quietly after Cornelia had pored over the letter again. Cornelia nodded, handing him the letter which he read seriously.</p><p>"She's very interesting isn't she, your mother?" He eventually said, handing back the letter to Cornelia.</p><p>"She likes a project." Blaise replied with a wink and Cornelia couldn't help but be a little affronted.</p><p>"What's that supposed to mean?" She said in a dangerous voice and Blaise's smile faltered.</p><p>"I just mean that she sees potential in you!"</p><p>Whether he meant it or not, it worked, and Cornelia lapsed into thoughtful silence as she continued to eat her breakfast.</p><p>"Are you going to reply, Cornelia?" Theodore asked towards the end of a quiet breakfast and Cornelia nodded slowly, throwing a threatening look at Blaise who kept a purposefully passive expression.</p><p>"Yes, let's see what this womanly flame is all about." She replied in a blasé tone, getting a grin from Blaise and a small encouraging smile from Theodore.</p><p>Cornelia struggled to concentrate throughout her classes that day as she planned her reply to Rosalind. She knew that she was overthinking it, but Rosalind was the first person to have ever shown direct interest in just her and Cornelia was filled with a deep desire to impress her. Try as she might though, when the evening came and Cornelia tucked herself away alone in a corner of the common room to write her reply, she still couldn't think of what to say. At one point, Blaise had made his way over to her, only for her to glance up and order him to "turn around", which he did with a knowing smirk.</p><p>It was almost midnight by the time she had a small note folded up and ready to send by owl the next day. She wasn't completely happy with its contents, but she was frustrated and tired, and had an ever-growing pile of screwed up paper beside her. Her final draft read:</p><p>
  <em>Dear Mrs Zabini,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Thank you for your letter, it was wonderful to meet you earlier this week too. I apologise for my Aunt, I hope that she didn't offend you.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I have never really understood the reason why I was treated differently from my cousin, Draco, who I was raised with, and have always felt it to be unfair. It is nice to hear that someone thinks this way too.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I would be honoured to be taught by you, I have never even considered what it means to be a woman and am interested in hearing more of your own experiences and upbringing – it must have been very different to mine.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I eagerly await your reply,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Cornelia Lestrange</em>
</p><p>With a sigh, she shoved the parchment into an envelope, and made her way slowly up to bed.</p><p>It seemed that Draco had finally recovered from Harry and Ron's stunt with the car by the next day and sheepishly sidled up to Cornelia as she emerged into the common room in the morning. Cornelia happily welcomed the distraction from her thoughts and slipped into easy chatter with him, although she avoided mentioning Rosalind.</p><p>"I'm thinking of trying out for Seeker in the quidditch team try-outs next week." Draco mentioned as they took a seat in the Great Hall for breakfast. Cornelia nodded as she helped herself to a slice of toast.</p><p>"I think you should." She encouraged, her thoughts still half on the letter in her bag that she was planning on posting at lunch time.</p><p>"I wrote to father about it." Draco said nonchalantly, although when Cornelia looked him over, he had a smug smile on his face.</p><p>"Alright. What did he say?" She asked, although she had a sneaky suspicion of what Uncle Lucy might have said.</p><p>"Well, let's just say that Marcus Flint will be receiving a team's worth of Nimbus 2001s the day of the try-outs." Draco gave up all pretence of modesty and looked entirely pleased with himself.</p><p>Cornelia couldn't help but be a little impressed with the lengths Uncle Lucy was prepared to go to give his son a head start in life. 'Wow, that's nice of him. I don't suppose he'll be expecting anything in return?" She caught Draco's eye and he snickered.</p><p>As she took in his smug expression, Cornelia tried to smother the flicker of annoyance in her. She wondered if it were due to Rosalind's letter that explicitly confirmed the inequality that she had felt all her life, constantly living in Draco's shadow, being pushed down whilst he was helped up, but she was irritated by how sure Draco was that the role of seeker now belonged to him. She found herself questioning how deserving he was of that role.</p><p>"Are you happy for him to do that?" She asked quietly, keeping her eyes on her toast that she buttered slowly.</p><p>Draco looked confused. "Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?" He questioned.</p><p>"I don't know. Aren't you curious to see whether you'd get on the team without Uncle Lucy's help?" She said slyly, and Draco's pale face flushed a light pink.</p><p>"I thought you said I should try out?!" He demanded, immediately defensive.</p><p>"I do – I think you're a good flyer."</p><p>"Then what's the problem?" Draco snapped and fanning the flames of Cornelia's annoyance.</p><p>"I can think of a few!" She snapped back, suddenly pushing up and away from the table as hot anger flushed through her and stomping from the room before she said anything she regretted. She would take that trip to the Owlery sooner rather than later, filled as she was with an even stronger urge to talk with someone who could understand what she was feeling.</p><p>Her trip to the Owlery did a lot to clear her head, what with the cool gusts of wind that blew through the tower, but it did make her late to her first lesson. It was her first Defence Against the Dark Arts class of the year with new professor – Gilderoy Lockhart.</p><p>She had heard Pansy, Daphne and Sally-Anne fangirling about Professor Lockhart the night before and had to admit she was curious as to what lessons the experienced wizard might lead. She had known of Lockhart previous to this year, hearing of him on the news and seeing a couple of his books dotted around the manor's library, but she hadn't known the specifics that Pansy had reeled off the previous night. It sounded like they were in for a much more interesting DADA year than the one before with the frightened and secretly possessed Professor Quirrell.</p><p>She slipped quietly and a little nervously into the full classroom, student's eyes turning in her direction including Draco's, who looked at her sullenly before turning back to the front. She needn't have worried about Lockhart who simply ushered her in with a sweep of his caped arm and a dazzling smile. It also became clear to her within minutes of sitting and listening to Lockhart ramble on about his achievements that she may have been mistaken in assuming that he would be much better than Quirrell. Any hopes she had were dashed entirely when, with pompous bravado, he handed out pop quiz sheets that revolved entirely around his personal and professional life.</p><p>Cornelia glanced around after scanning the paper and caught Theodore's eyes from across the classroom. They shared a grimace and she knew that he was thinking what she was thinking; They had found their first prank victim of the year.</p><p>She didn't bother answering any of the questions on the paper, instead sitting with her head resting on her palm and considering Lockhart absently. She knew that he had sent the majority of the female student body into a tizz but he definitely wasn't doing anything for her. His perfect honey curls were swept back in an overly fussy fashion, and his sparkling blue eyes looked weak and watery to her, his dimpled cheeks too babyish. She watched as he preened and pruned himself at every possible opportunity and wondered what on earth Dumbledore had been thinking hiring him, perhaps he was as insane as Uncle Lucy had claimed all summer. At the very least, his vanity was a glaringly obvious weak link that she could take advantage of.</p><p>The day passed slowly after that, and Draco approached Cornelia again at lunch, neither of them mentioning the morning's upset, although it took a little longer than usual to slip into their normal comradery. The next day passed even slower than the first it seemed, and Cornelia spent a large majority of it watching the sky through the castle windows. Her desperation to hear from Rosalind confused her to say the least, the constant lurch of hope followed by disappointment when she spotted an owl in the sky that continued on its journey away from her, took up most of her attention. She mostly avoided Blaise, finding his knowing looks embarrassing at her inexplicable behaviour. All she knew was that Rosalind had left a deep impression on her, both in appearance and her impassioned language, and for some miraculous reason, Rosalind had taken an interest in <em>her</em> too.</p><p>Finally, 3 days later, on the Saturday, the eagle-like owl reappeared at breakfast time. Although she was bursting at the seams to rip it open, she knew better than to read the letter in front of Draco, who sat beside her. It took all of her self-control to calmly slip the letter into her pocket and attempt to continue eating her cereal, although it tasted like cardboard in her mouth now.</p><p>"Who's that from?" Draco asked, watching her with narrowed eyes despite her rather good acting abilities. He knew as well as she did that she never usually got mail.</p><p>"It's just from Madam Malkin, I'm putting in an order for new robes." Cornelia lied easily and Draco dropped it immediately, he wasn't interested in clothes. She had to avoid Blaise's eyes, however, who was sat opposite her with that annoyingly knowing smirk on his face.</p><p>Shortly after this, she made her excuses and hurried from the Great Hall, making her way up to the library where she knew she wouldn't be bothered. Finally, she ripped open the cream envelope with the ornate handwriting and read the letter hungrily.</p><p>
  <em>Dearest Cornelia</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Do not be concerned about me being offended, I encounter women like your Aunt everywhere. She is a victim to the patriarchy and has adopted such views as her own; she is simply afraid of women like me who refuse to see the world in such a way. I pity her, I do. But there is nothing I can do for your Aunt; she has a lifetime experienced in this way – it is you that I am interested in.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>You mention that you have always felt it to be unfair that you have been brought up in a different manner to your cousin, Draco, and I am pleased to hear you say this! You would be astonished by the number of noble women (your Aunt included) that are raised in a way similar to your own upbringing and are completely oblivious, even satisfied, with the abuse they suffer! It is appalling to me that these old-fashioned values are allowed to continue, and even worse, that the women themselves are fighting their corner.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>If more women such as you and I were to look their demons in the eye and refuse to lie down in the face of such inequality, the world would be a better place. And so we shall, my dear.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Let's start by discussing such demons, shall we? Tell me of your Uncle, Lucius Malfoy. Judging by his wife and what I have gathered through yourself and Blaise, it seems he rules his home with an iron fist. What is his opinion of your brilliance? How has he taught you to express yourself? You say you are treated differently from Draco, in what way?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>You must understand that in order to feed your flame, we must first staunch the flow of water that dampens it.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I eagerly await your response, darling. And please, call me Rosalind.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Yours most faithfully,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Rosalind Zabini</em>
</p><p>Cornelia read and re-read the letter some 10 times, her eyes wide as she drank up the words inside. She had never heard anyone speak in such way about the way noble families were run, and the passion Rosalind felt for the matter was clear through her words, it made Cornelia's heart thump uncomfortably in her chest.</p><p>The part where she called Uncle Lucy a demon made her blood both sing with exhilaration and run cold with fear. If Uncle Lucy ever found out that she had been communicating with someone who spoke of him in such a way, she would be punished severely. And yet, the thought of such punishment thrilled her into wanting to reply even more, because now she had confirmation that the way he treated her was wrong.</p><p>She replied immediately, and this time the words ran freely from her as her quill scratched furiously across the parchment. Words she had never said aloud but had always thought suddenly spilled from her and onto the page as she discussed the unfairness of being kept out of the conversations at the dinner table, how she knew she had more to offer but was never allowed to prove it. How angry it made her when she was physically restrained from running free outside with Draco. How lonely she had been all her childhood as she wasn't introduced to any children her own age other than Draco. How she felt like screaming every time Draco went to a magical theory class whilst she was whisked off to another etiquette class with Aunt Cissy.</p><p>By the time she finished, her hand ached and the parchment was a good two foot long, but she felt a pleasantly odd hollowness inside and a faint ringing in her ears, as if she had just expelled years worth of bitterness.</p><p>She floated from the library and up to the Owlery to post the letter when she had finished, the peacefulness following her into the quietness of the tower. She stayed there for a while after she had sent the owl on its way, listening to the wind blow through the arched glassless windows in the walls, and gazing upwards to a point where the light grey clouds seemed to split like a wound to reveal a perfectly blue sky beneath.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I hope you're all enjoying Rosalind Zabini as much as I am writing her. Very suddenly I've realised she's going to have a rather large part to play in this story and I'm so excited to see it develop.</p><p>Until next time!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Heat of a Flame</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>As expected, Draco did get onto the Slytherin quidditch team the next week, which he proudly announced to Cornelia after sauntering into the common room with the rest of the team. Cornelia eyed the older Slytherins that converged on her with Draco, fanning out behind him like some ridiculous back up dancers, before giving a single nod and turning back to her game of chess with Theodore. "Good for you." She said in a deliberately disinterested tone.</p><p>It was petty, but she refused to interact with Draco when he wore that infuriating 'king of the castle' expression, one that he was currently embracing so thoroughly that it was probably more accurate to describe as 'god of the castle' expression. She also didn't appreciate the human peacock tail he currently had leering at her from behind him.</p><p>She didn't see Draco's ugly expression and the blotching of his cheeks as he turned from her, gesturing with his head to a different corner of the common room to the rest of the team. Theodore on the other hand, saw it very clearly.</p><p>"He didn't like that." He muttered, watching Cornelia make her move on the board as Draco stormed away.</p><p>"It might do him good not to get what he wants all the time." She responded in the same low voice. Right on cue, Draco's voice drifted over to them from across the room as he boasted about his father's purchase for the team to Pansy Parkinson. Cornelia and Theodore shared a quick look. "Or it might make no difference whatsoever." She continued, making Theodore chuckle.</p><p>Cornelia and Rosalind had had another back and forth since the previous Saturday, and each of Rosalind's letters gave her even more to chew on than the one before. Rosalind had replied to Cornelia's long letter with an equally lengthy one of her own as she picked apart each of the scenarios Cornelia had described and pointed out how Uncle Lucy and Aunt Cissy had worked together to undermine Cornelia and take away her voice. She said that their aim was to make Cornelia weak and pliable, so that she would float along in a man's world without fuss.</p><p><em>Their plan for you, my dear, – </em>the letter had read – <em>is to marry a pure-blood wizard and produce pure-blood offspring. Every lesson they teach is to prepare you for that moment and that moment alone.</em></p><p>Needless to say that her words hadn't had a soothing effect on Cornelia, rather she felt like she had been punched in the stomach and felt slightly nauseous. It was something that had never occurred to her before, and yet if Rosalind said it was so, it must be true. It felt as if someone had torn the rug out from under her feet, as well as the floor beneath the rug, and she was suddenly falling through air not knowing where or when she would land.</p><p>Marriage was never something that Cornelia had really thought about. She had been much more interested in keeping up with Draco, both physically and in education, and in achieving her real aspiration of escaping the enclosure of the sprawling Malfoy manor. To think of marrying into another prison, as Rosalind was slowly making her realise noble wizarding families represented, was horrifying to her.</p><p>It was with this heavy in her mind that Cornelia continued about her day-to-day life in Hogwarts, and as if that didn't affect the way she looked at Draco enough, she now had to deal with his sickeningly stuck-up attitude that seemed to have worsened tenfold since his success with the quidditch team. The word had got around the Slytherins (with a helping hand from Draco himself) about the generosity of his father increasing the chances of Slytherin winning the Quidditch Cup that year, and now it seemed that where Draco had pretty much blended into the background with his loyal cronies before, everyone now greeted him as they passed or stopped to chat with the influential second year, much to Draco's pleasure.</p><p>Whilst she was sure that she should have been happy for Draco, she couldn't help but feel bitter at how he hadn't earnt a single iota of it, and how that was likely how he was going to spend the rest of his life – privileged and ungrateful. Meanwhile it seemed she had to fight tooth and nail to just gain her freedom – never mind recognition.</p><p>So, when Draco flopped into a chair beside her one afternoon after a quidditch practise laughing uproariously with the rest of the team, he immediately put her in a dark mood. "Guess what?" He grinned at her, unphased by her blank expression.</p><p>"No." she said bluntly, turning back to her book.</p><p>"Ooooh." Marcus Flint sang mockingly from beside Draco. "Not very friendly, is she?" Cornelia's grip tightened on her book as the violent image of her throttling him passed unwelcomely through her mind.</p><p>"Alright, I'll tell you then." Draco said forcefully, ignoring Marcus's dig and Cornelia's obvious hint that he should leave her alone. With a deep, calming breath, Cornelia closed her book and turned her eyes upon him. She could see Marcus leering at her from the corner of her eye though she refused to look directly at him.</p><p>"You know Weasley broke his stupid wand when they flew that stupid car into the whomping willow?" Cornelia nodded, she had been finding Ron's temperamental wand-work quite amusing during class. "Well, he just tried to use the eat slug curse on me, only it backfired. I've just been watching the idiot throwing up great slimy slugs all over the grounds!" Draco burst into a loud fit of laughter, joined by the rest of the team. Cornelia cast a sceptical eye over them all, unconvinced that they found it as hilarious as they were making out.</p><p>"Why would he want to curse you in the first place?" She asked without cracking a smile. Draco didn't seem to notice as he wiped tears of mirth from his eyes.</p><p>"So obviously Potter made the Gryffindor quidditch team, I expect they think he'll bring some kind of recognition to the team or something." He said bitterly and Cornelia had to stop herself from pointing out his hypocrisy. "We had a bit of a run in with the team today and for some reason they didn't seem overly impressed by father's donation." He snickered again.</p><p>"Shaking in their boots they were." Marcus added jeeringly, and Cornelia cast a haughty look over his ugly face.</p><p>"Of course, Weasley and Granger are never far away from Potter and they came over to stick their noses in. I put the mud-blood in her place and they didn't like that one bit."</p><p>"What did she say to deserve that?" Cornelia asked, her voice cutting through the snickers that had erupted again at his words. Draco's smug expression flickered slightly and he began to frown.</p><p>"You mean other than just existing?" His chin was beginning to jut out defiantly and Cornelia took a nasty satisfaction that she had dampened his victory just a little. "She said that I bought my way on to the team." He spat out unwillingly when Cornelia didn't answer.</p><p>There was a long pause before Cornelia asked, "Didn't you?"</p><p>Draco mottled in front of her eyes, his face twisting in anger before he shot up and towered over her. For a wild moment Cornelia thought he was going to hit her, before he spun on his heel, hissed "come on" to the rest of the team and stormed away from her. The rest of the team slowly got up to join him, throwing incredulous looks in her direction as if she were the one that had just said something incredibly offensive.</p><p>Cornelia was left feeling conflicted. On one hand, she was pleased to have wiped that smug look off Draco's face, even if for a second, but on the other hand she didn't like to hurt Draco and his look of fury seemed to linger in her mind. He had never looked at her in that way before.</p><p>Theodore and Blaise who sat opposite her were staring at her, Blaise with a quirked eyebrow and Theodore with a worried expression that did nothing but remind her of her softer Draco. "I'm going for a walk." She muttered, before leaving the common room, the glares of Draco and the Slytherin team following her out.</p><p>She had made it into the great hall and was just heading towards the towering entrance doors out into the grounds when she heard footsteps clattering behind her. Turning her head, she was surprised to see a breathless Draco rushing towards her, his face still pinched furiously. She froze as he advanced glaring at her, and eventually stopped in front of her before tilting his head sharply. "Well, go on then!" He insisted and after hesitating for another moment, Cornelia began walking a little more slowly towards to main entrance with Draco by her side.</p><p>They didn't speak for a few minutes, although she could sense Draco boiling beside her, she knew it was only a matter of time. "You really embarrassed me then you know?" He finally burst out and Cornelia cringed in the face of his anger.</p><p>"I know." She said quietly.</p><p>"Why would you do that?" He demanded and Cornelia wasn't sure how to answer when asked outright. Even though he was angry, Draco was back to being the person she had grown up with in that moment, and Cornelia was beginning to feel ashamed for her actions.</p><p>"I just don't like how you are around them." She finally settled upon, the words feeling like a pathetic representation of how much she disliked the way Draco changed when he wasn't alone with her. Draco stopped walking and spun to face her.</p><p>"Who, the team?" He asked, his voice still accusing.</p><p>"Yes… and everyone else." Her voice was getting quieter.</p><p>"What's that supposed to mean?"</p><p>Cornelia refused to meet his eyes, and she cast her eyes sideways instead, staring at the grounds just behind Draco's head as she attempted to gather her thoughts. She didn't want to upset Draco any more than she already had, but she knew that he didn't take criticism well, so she needed to tread carefully. "It's like you pretend to be somebody else when you're with other people." She eventually said, finally meeting his icy blue eyes. She could see that despite her efforts she had still hit a nerve.</p><p>"I'm not pretending! That's just who I am!" He retorted and the space between them seemed to grow larger.</p><p>"Draco, we're family, I know you." She purposefully repeated his words that he had said when they had been in almost the same place a year earlier. Recognition flashed on his features, replacing a little of the anger. "Sometimes it feels like I'm walking around with Uncle Lucy though."</p><p>Finally, Draco's scowl lightened and he lifted an eyebrow, a smirk tugging on the corner of his lips. 'That's not such a bad thing." He commented and Cornelia's heart sunk a little. She knew how much Draco loved his father and had suspected how blind he was to his flaws, but she hadn't realised the extent that he modelled his existence around him. She took a step closer to him and grabbed his hand which surprised him.</p><p>"I don't want to be with Uncle Lucy, I want to be with you." She said intensely, and Draco got an odd look in his eyes as his eyebrows raised in surprise and a blush spotted on his cheeks. He didn't seem to know what to say to that and Cornelia was pleased that her words had made an impact.</p><p>The silence stretched between them, so they resumed their walk, their hands still clasped together. She could practically hear Draco's mind processing what she had said, and she wondered if it would be enough to change anything.</p><p>"I guess it <em>is</em> kind of funny that Ron made himself throw up slugs." She murmured when the silence eventually became unbearable, and whatever spell her words had cast upon Draco was broken as they both spluttered with laughter.</p><p>They stayed outside until the sky darkened, talking more than they had since they had arrived at Hogwarts that year. All the bitterness and awkwardness from the weeks before had evaporated and Cornelia finally asked Draco how his quidditch training was going. Draco let on that he was a little concerned about his capabilities, as he hadn't yet caught the snitch. They poked fun at Gilderoy Lockhart and Cornelia told him that she was planning on taking him down a few pegs very soon.</p><p>Finally, they were unable to ignore the chill around them, huddled together as they were near the edge of the grounds close to the forbidden forest, and made their way inside. When they entered the common room, Draco threw her an almost regretful look as he made his way back over to the rest of the team, and Cornelia towards where Theodore and Blaise still sat.</p><p>Whilst their conversation didn't have quite the impact she had wished for, Draco still acted like a stuck-up moron around his other friends, he at least didn't bring them over with him when they spent time together. She supposed that it would have to do, and that perhaps it was unrealistic to expect Draco to suddenly do a 180 in his behaviour after one chat.</p><p>Cornelia and Rosalind continued to communicate by owl, and it was always the highlight of Cornelia's day when she saw that eagle-owl soaring determinedly towards her. Rosalind expressed that she wished for Cornelia to come to her home with Blaise for the Christmas break, and whilst Cornelia wanted to, she knew there was no way she would be allowed. Rosalind had also taken to sending her small gifts along with her letters. She had received a golden snake hairclip (<em>I saw you admiring my headpiece when we met - </em>the letter had read), a beautiful mother of pearl hand mirror, and some elegant dragon-hide gloves in a deep, earthy green.</p><p>And so life continued as the days got shorter and Halloween was suddenly upon them. Everyone in the castle looked forward to Halloween, which was celebrated with as much fervour as Christmas. The castle was decorated with live bats that swooped quietly around the corridors, making groups of girls shriek in fright, and pumpkins glowed in mid-air in every room, and of course the feast was the best of the year in Cornelia's opinion.</p><p>When the evening of the feast arrived, Cornelia stuffed herself happily alongside Theodore and Blaise, who were all in the midst of their plans for Professor Lockhart (it involved a gift of shampoo), before sleepily joining the rest of the school in making their way back to the common room. Upon leaving the great hall it became immediately clear that something was very wrong, as the crowd froze and hushed eerily. Blaise, who was the tallest of the three, attempted to peer over the tops of everyone's heads.</p><p>"There's something on the wall up there, it looks like writing…" He was explaining when an all too familiar voice rang through the crowd.</p><p>"Enemies of the heir beware! You'll be next mud-bloods!" Draco's spiteful voice was loud and clear, and it made Cornelia's heart splutter. What was he thinking saying something like that in front of the whole school?!</p><p>Without a second thought Cornelia began shoving her way towards the direction of Draco's voice, certain there would be some conflict due to his words. Before she could get anywhere near him though, another voice rang out, this one much older.</p><p>"What's going on here? What's going on?" She recognised it as Filch the caretaker's voice and the crowd parted a little just in front of her to let him pass. She dove into his wake and followed him forward towards the blonde head that she knew belonged to Draco. She was so focussed on him that she didn't look up at what everyone else was staring at, instead grabbing his arm roughly as soon as he was within sight.</p><p>When he turned, she could see his face was flushed and his eyes were excited, he didn't seem to be angry or in danger at all. That was when she finally looked up, and her mouth dropped open. Mrs Norris, Filch's cat, hung as stiff as a board from a torch bracket high on the wall, and the words "ENEMIES OF THE HEIR BEWARE" glistened in what looked like blood beneath her.</p><p>Cornelia automatically stepped close to Draco, clutching his arm to her as she stared at the bizarre sight, her brain seemed unable to register what she was looking at. She barely heard Filch's screams or even noticed Professor Dumbledore coming onto the scene, she couldn't take her eyes off the words and the body. It was only when the students around her began to shift did she realise he had ordered them all back to their dormitories. When Draco muttered "come on" in her ear and started leading her away, she suddenly came back to reality, his previous words racing back to her.</p><p>In the commotion of the other students pushing and shoving to get away from the corridor, she grabbed Draco by the shoulder and lead him forcefully into a deserted classroom. Once they were in the room, she quickly shut the door behind them and swung to face him.</p><p>"What are you-"</p><p>"What on earth were you thinking saying something like that?!" She spat, rage seeming to emanate off her like heat off a flame.</p><p>"It's the truth!" Draco defended himself, although he did back up several steps. Cornelia advanced just as quickly, and she shoved him when she caught up with him.</p><p>"You absolute idiot!"</p><p>"Hey!" shouted Draco and she shoved him again, harder this time, and he stumbled backwards into a desk.</p><p>"Why don't you stop acting like such a child for <em>just a second </em>and use your brain!"</p><p>"What the hell are you talking about?"</p><p>"You know what this means don't you? You remember the stories? The heir of Slytherin has returned and it's not a good thing Draco!"</p><p>"Of course it is, the school could do with being cleaned up a little – ouch!" Cornelia couldn't help herself, and her palm tingled where it had collided with Draco's cheek.</p><p>"People. Died." She hissed in her most dangerous voice. "You know what happens when someone dies don't you? People come looking for a killer. You just made yourself a suspect!"</p><p>Both of them were breathing heavily as they glared at each other, Draco clutching his stinging cheek. The only sound was of the still stampeding students on the other side of the door. Finally, Draco shifted and lowered his gaze to the floor. "I didn't think."</p><p>"Oh, I'm aware." Cornelia said in a mocking voice. "Just keep your head down from now on, will you? Enough of this mud-blood bullshit."</p><p>It looked like he was about to disagree but then thought better of it and nodded once, still not looking up at her. "Now let's get out of here before anyone realises we're missing." Cornelia ordered, moving quietly back towards the door and peering out. "Come on!" she hissed back at Draco who was still in the same spot.</p><p>They didn't speak as they rushed back to the common room, and Cornelia's stomach tightened uncomfortably when she saw how red Draco's cheek was.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Uh-oh, trouble in paradise. Isn't Draco a little prick in this book/film? Still, I really love writing the more tender moments between him and Cornelia, and how Cornelia ultimately sticks by him through thick and thin. She is fiercely protective of him! Still, it's going to be interesting seeing just how far her loyalty can be stretched this year. I hope you're enjoying the story so far and thanks as ever for reading :)</p><p>Until next time.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Shut Your Mouth</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>In the weeks that passed after the message on the wall, Cornelia stuck close to Draco, which at first was a miserable affair. Whilst neither of them wanted to be separated (there was a nervousness about Hogwarts that made people move in groups), both of them were extremely awkward and upset about her slapping him. They didn't bring it up, but for a few days Draco avoided her eyes and barely spoke, even losing his smugness with the rest of the students.</p><p>Eventually the awkwardness passed, and the pair slipped back into their usual selves, although Cornelia promised herself that she would never raise a hand to Draco again. Maybe a wand – but never a hand.</p><p>Draco wrote home asking about the chamber of secrets, as it was now known as amongst the students, and received a long letter back from Lucius about how the chamber had been opened some 50 years ago, and a girl had been killed by the beast that lived within. The culprit had been found and expelled, although he couldn't tell them who it was as the whole affair was strictly confidential. His advice was to keep their heads down and let the heir of Slytherin do their job in cleansing the school of mud-bloods and blood traitors. He also added that he was sure that Hogwarts would be a much better place in the coming year.</p><p>"Do you think he had anything to do with it?" Cornelia had whispered to Draco as they read the letter together.</p><p>"Father? I don't think so. He would have said."</p><p>But Cornelia couldn't shake the feeling that it all seemed so coincidental that Lucius had been so confident that he would be dealing with both the Weasleys' and Dumbledore this year, and her mind kept returning to the book she had seen him slip into Ginny's cauldron. She couldn't see how they were connected, but she was yet to hear of anything else coming out of the situation.</p><p>A new tension began to rise within the castle walls as the first quidditch match of the season approached, Syltherin vs Gryffindor. Draco's attitude worsened as he grew nastier towards the students around him, picking more and more victims for Crabbe and Goyle to play with, and the teams regularly tried to put the other out of action. Cornelia attempted to bat off any attempts on Draco, although even she was unable to prevent the Weasley twins, Fred and George from getting a few pranks in on him. One she even allowed – for a little while.</p><p>Draco had been on a roll with the amount of people's families he had threatened with his father's position at the ministry, a tactic Cornelia found incredibly humiliating to stand by, when a humourful voice from across the courtyard called "Oi, Malfoy! Heads up!"</p><p>Before Draco or Cornelia had a chance to react, a large ball the size and shape of a bludger was launching towards his face.</p><p>"Argh!" Draco had yelled in a comical fashion, leaping backwards and covering his face with his arms, only for the ball fall with a soft thump to the floor, it was clearly made of foam.</p><p>The twins had come bounding over, broad grins on faces that were obviously used to smiling and glittering mischievous eyes. Cornelia had forgotten to grab her wand, the lack of spite in either of their faces unnerved her, although the boy closest to her did look her quickly up in down in search of the wand he had seen threatening his brother in Flourish and Blotts, before bending to scoop up the ball off the floor.</p><p>"Sorry about that!" The other brother said jovially, patting Draco on the back as he slowly straightened out, his face furious. He shook his hand off violently.</p><p>"Didn't mean to frighten you!" The twin closest to Cornelia grinned and winked at her before they both turned on their heels and returned back to the corner of the courtyard they had come from.</p><p>As Draco spat curses after them and straightened his robes indignantly, Cornelia was surprised to find that her heart was fluttering nervously in her chest and a whisper of the hot flush she felt when she had received Rosalind's first letter was spreading up her neck. She had never been winked at before, and the image of the Weasley twin's wide brown eyes lingered in her mind.</p><p>It might have been due to this odd sensation that when Draco turned on his heel to storm from the courtyard and Cornelia saw the words 'DADDY ISSUES' on a piece of paper taped to his back, the high girlish giggles erupted from her mouth. She quickly slapped her hand to her mouth to smother the laughter when Draco threw a dirty look over his shoulder at her.</p><p>"What are you laughing at?" He snapped.</p><p>Cornelia just shook her head, her eyes watering as she looked anywhere but at his back. Her eyes fell instead on the twins, who were watching with matching grins, and her heart stammered again.</p><p>She allowed Draco to walk with the sign on his back for the next 20 minutes, making sure Crabbe nor Goyle caught sight of it and pretending to ignore the giggles that followed them around the castle, before discreetly ripping it off and throwing it in the bin.</p><p>Finally, the day of the match arrived and the excitement in the castle was tangible. Cornelia and Blaise had agreed that they would be attending the game, the first quidditch match they had watched since starting at Hogwarts, Cornelia to support Draco and Blaise to support Cornelia.</p><p>The atmosphere in the stands was electric as the Slytherins all ascended up the steps and spilled into the rows of wooden pews together, the voices and laughter of the spectators filling the entire grounds. Cornelia, who wasn't accustomed to being closely surrounded with so many bodies and voices felt a little overwhelmed, but also couldn't deny the excited fluttering in her stomach as her, Blaise and Theodore took their seats and cast their eyes across the enormous pitch.</p><p>It was an impressive sight, pretty much the entirety of the school had filled the stands surrounding the pitch, including professors who were in the stand two to the left from them. It was as she looked over at the staff that she recognised the glossy silver head of hair and pointed features of Uncle Lucy staring directly back at her. Her heart leapt into her mouth and for a second she was completely flummoxed by the sight of him. He smirked and tipped his head in greeting to her and she hurriedly smothered the expression of shock on her face to wave back to him.</p><p>What on earth was he doing here? She thought, before remembering that he had been boasting about getting onto the school board during the summer holidays. She groaned and Theodore turned to her, followed her line of sight and made a surprised noise. "Isn't that-"</p><p>"Yep. I wonder if Draco knows."</p><p>Cornelia turned back to the pitch and now her stomach fluttered nervously. If Draco was aware that his father was in the stands, she knew that the pressure to perform would be extreme for him, as if his first quidditch game in front of the entire school wasn't enough! Her worries were soon banished however by the student's collective roar as the teams and Madam Hooch walked onto the pitch. The sound thrilled through her and she leant forward eagerly to single out Draco. He was easy to spot, he was one of the smallest on the pitch and his hair glistened in the sun in the same way as his fathers.</p><p>If she hadn't thought the spectators could get any louder she had been wrong, as the screams became deafening as the teams kicked off from the ground and zoomed into the air, followed quickly by the balls that Madam Hooch had released and thrown.</p><p>Although her eyes were trained on Draco as he sped about the pitch, she noticed that the Weasley twins were playing as beaters for the Gryffindor team. She became momentarily distracted as she followed their flight, unhesitating and synchronised as they swooped and darted after the bludgers, landing powerful blows upon them when it came within their reach, which was often. She quickly dragged her eyes off them to return to Draco who seemed to have changed tactic and was now watching the game unfold from a heightened position.</p><p>This was when the mutters and gasps began spreading through the stalls, and once again Cornelia looked away from Draco to see what the problem was. "What's going on?" She asked Theodore who pointed towards Harry Potter who was currently doing an astonishing twirl in mid-air.</p><p>"It looks like someone's tampered with that bludger." He explained, his voice was bright with enthusiasm at the prospect.</p><p>Every eye in the stadium was upon Harry Potter as he desperately dodged and raced away from the bludger that was unmistakeably chasing him. Fred and George were tailing his every move, hitting the bludger away with increasing urgency, but the bludger would unnaturally change its course and continue its chase on Harry every time.</p><p>Harry swooped and swirled up into the air and Cornelia could see that Draco had called out to him from his elevated position; Judging by the ugly expression on his face, he was taunting him. But as Draco glared at Harry, Cornelia wasn't the only one that saw the golden shimmer of the snitch hovering right beside his head. As Harry stared at him and the snitch, he seemingly forgot about the bludger, which shot forward and ferociously smashed into his arm, making the crowd groan. It looked like a split-second decision, and despite his clearly broken arm, Harry darted towards Draco with such speed that Cornelia's hand slapped to her mouth as she gasped. It was over in less than a second, and when Harry's hand closed around the snitch just inches from Draco's head, the stands around them erupted into ecstatic cheers.</p><p>Cornelia's heart was racing as the Slytherin's around her groaned and boo'd in disappointment, and when she side glanced at Uncle Lucy his fury was etched into every line on his face. She had to suffocate the urge to run from the stands and off to find Draco immediately, who she was both irritated by his stupidity (as she had, despite herself, gotten quite involved in the match) and concerned for his state of mind as his father, the Slytherin team and all Slytherin's in general turned against him. Instead, she had to summon all her patience and evacuate the stands and make her way back up to the castle with Theodore and Blaise and the rest of the students.</p><p>She hovered in the Slytherin common room, unable to sit down and instead wringing her hands nervously by the fire, before Draco and his team finally bustled in through the door. Draco was wearing a sour look on his face and didn't look up as he entered, the team around him sporting similar foul looks. For once, Cornelia was unbothered by the presence of the rest of the team as she quickly stepped towards him.</p><p>"Draco!" She breathed, latching herself by his side immediately. He attempted to shake her off.</p><p>"Just leave me alone." He muttered, and whilst his words stung she refused to obey, knowing that it was just his dark mood talking.</p><p>"It's okay Draco, there's always next time-"</p><p>"There might not be a next time." Marcus Flint interrupted her menacingly.</p><p>Cornelia barely glanced at him as she shot in a poisonous voice "I suppose you don't want your brooms then?" before turning back to Draco whose cheeks were flushed a dark red. She attempted to touch his arm, but he shook her off again before throwing himself onto the sofa. She barely noticed the rest of the team disperse to be replaced by Croyle, Theodore and Blaise, who lowered themselves quietly and carefully into the seats around them.</p><p>"I know you're upset, but honestly, everyone will have forgotten about it by-"</p><p>"Did you know father was watching?" Draco asked darkly, staring into the flames in the fireplace.</p><p>Cornelia hesitated, she was hoping that Draco hadn't known. "Yes." She admitted.</p><p>"He never came to see me afterwards. He just left." He spat and Cornelia jerked towards him automatically, she so wanted to comfort him but she knew he didn't want to be touched right now.</p><p>"That's not your fault." She said softly but Draco didn't seem to be listening.</p><p>"What the hell was Potter doing anyway? All that showing off on his broom, he knew I wouldn't be able to ignore it."</p><p>"Well, the bludger <em>had</em> been tampered with…"</p><p>"Oh shut up, Nelly! You don't believe that rubbish do you?" Draco finally looked scathingly at her and his sharp words felt like a slap. Cornelia straightened in her seat; her concern quickly being overshadowed by offence.</p><p>"Maybe if you weren't so obsessed with Harry Potter you might have seen the snitch!" She snapped, and the words were no sooner out of her mouth than she regretted them immediately. Draco on the other hand smirked, it was if he had been pushing her to say exactly that. His eyes narrowed dangerously and he jutted out his chin, the smug expression she hated so much returning.</p><p>"Didn't my mother teach you when to shut your mouth?" He said loudly. There was a sharp intake of breath from Theodore behind her and the people closest to them in the common room hushed.</p><p>If she hadn't watched the words come out of his mouth, Cornelia wouldn't have believed her ears. It felt as if all the noise of the common room slipped away, and Draco's words echoed loudly around her head. Her mouth slackened in surprise as she stared at him, and Draco realised he had crossed a line. She watched his smug expression flicker and the familiar worried crease appearing on his forehead instead. He had just begun to lift his hand to reach for her when something snapped shut in Cornelia's head and the sound of the room rushed back in. She stood sharply and walked blindly towards the dormitory, ignoring Draco's shouts of "Nelly!" behind her.</p><p>Cornelia spent the rest of the day locked away in the dormitory, pulling the heavy velvet curtains shut on her bed and sat staring into space. At first her blood had been boiling and she had had to throw her wand to the end of the bed to prevent her from setting fire to the curtains, but eventually that diminished, and Cornelia had to scrunch her face up to stop herself from crying. She had never expected to hear such vicious words from Draco, in fact he was literally the last person on earth she would have expected to hurt her in such a way. What was worse was that he had known exactly what he was doing, he had wanted to hurt her - and he had. It felt as if his words had sliced a hole in her chest and nothing Cornelia did could stop it from throbbing painfully.</p><p>She didn't know how much time passed but her thoughts were soon scattered by the sound of feet descending into the dormitory, and the last voice she wanted to hear called through the empty room.</p><p>"Cornelia?"</p><p>Cornelia held her breath and grimaced.</p><p>"Cornelia? Hellooooo…" the curtains twitched and Cornelia resisted the strong urge to hiss at Pansy like an angry cat.</p><p>"What?" She snapped instead.</p><p>"Draco's asking for you." Pansy's face peered in through the curtains, her eyes glittering curiously through the darkness towards Cornelia.</p><p>"He can fuck off!" Cornelia screeched, tugging the curtains closed on her face so hard that a ripping sound followed the action.</p><p>"Oooh!" Pansy had called in surprise. "Well <em>sorry </em>for bothering you." She said in a way that was clear that she didn't mean it, in fact she sounded positively excited.</p><p>The interaction sparked Cornelia's rage again and after a few minutes of punching the bed and screaming silently she stilled, knowing exactly who she needed to speak to right now.</p><p>After scrambling to find her wand again and quietly casting lumos, she reached out of the curtains blindly, fumbling for the parchment and quills in her bedside drawer. Once she was settled, the parchment resting on a book whilst she bent awkwardly over it, she began writing and didn't stop for a long time.</p><p>By the time she'd finished, the sun had dipped below the horizon and her stomach was growling. Glancing at her watch she saw that she had missed dinner and had a mere half an hour before curfew. She quickly re-read her letter – it was a mess, her handwriting scrawled messily across the parchment with silly spelling and grammatical mistakes, missing words, and a couple of places where the ink had blotted in her haste, but it would have to do. With her face set she ripped open the curtains and tore from the room.</p><p>She saw out of the corner of her eye as she hurried through the common room people moving towards her, but she resolutely ignored them and continued on her way. Someone caught up with her in the corridor outside and when she finally dared to look she realised it was Theodore. He was staring ahead and unspeaking, and honestly, he was probably the only person she could bare to be around in that moment.</p><p>They moved quickly and silently through the castle and outside towards the Owlery; Theodore asked no questions and simply kept up with her fast pace. Only when she had sent the owl on it's way and they watched it's silhouette in the night sky retreat did he hold something out to her. It was a sandwich wrapped in a napkin. She finally met his eyes, and what felt like the first smile of the day melted her features.</p><p>"Thank you." She whispered and he smiled gently back.</p><p>When they returned to the common room, Draco was waiting for their return and shot from his seat when she entered. Cornelia refused to even look at him, instead muttering a quick goodnight to Theodore and making her way swiftly back down to her dormitory.</p><p>She slept fitfully that night, the only comfort she could find was the thought that, if she knew Draco at all, then he would be struggling to find sleep too. Her stomach was writhing uncomfortably as memories played back through her mind like a montage, memories of Draco, particularly his hurt expression every time Lucius or Narcissa punished or degraded her. She couldn't pair that person with the boy who had spoken to her earlier that day, and she wondered how just how many of his parent's ideals he secretly carried within him. She questioned everything she thought she knew about how he saw her, the mutual respect they had for each other.</p><p>The morning arrived steadily and unwelcome, the windows in the dormitory bewitched to let in natural light despite them being underground, and the hard grey light filtered in through Cornelia's bed hangings, hurting her tired eyes.</p><p>She awoke, along with the rest of the school, to the news that there had been another attack by the heir of Slytherin, and the annoying first year Gryffindor, Colin Creevey, had been petrified during the night. The whispers began at the breakfast table, where Cornelia was cradling a cup of tea, keeping her eyes stubbornly on the mug and away from Draco who had been gazing worriedly at her all morning. Cornelia had risen late, despite her being awake to see the sunrise, and was surprised to find Theodore and Blaise both waiting for her in the common room. It seemed they had decided between them to adopt the role of bodyguards, and escorted her, one on each side, up to the great hall, where they took their respective seats.</p><p>It was here where Draco had approached her, nervously standing behind her. "Nelly?" He had asked in a sad little voice, but Cornelia stubbornly refused to acknowledge his existence.</p><p>After a few more attempts, Blaise had finally turned to Draco and said, "Leave it Draco, she doesn't want to talk to you."</p><p>Although he looked highly disgruntled, he didn't dare to confront Blaise with Cornelia there and instead he returned to his seat, his eyes on Cornelia more often than not.</p><p>Cornelia wasn't aware of anything other than the angry buzzing in her head for a while after that, but when she heard Theodore's voice say sharply, "What did you say?" beside her, she snapped back to reality.</p><p>Theodore was talking with a Slytherin fifth year sat beside him, their voices low and faces serious, and Cornelia quickly tuned in to the conversation.</p><p>"-taken to the hospital wing last night. It must have been after hours because nobody saw anything."</p><p>"What was he doing out of bed after curfew?" Theodore asked.</p><p>The fifth year shrugged. "I heard he's obsessed with Harry Potter, he could have been trying to go and see him in the hospital wing and got caught along the way."</p><p>Cornelia butted in and Blaise leant curiously forward beside her to listen as well. "Who are you talking about?"</p><p>"Colin Creevey." Theodore answered, his face grim.</p><p>"What about him?"</p><p>"He's been petrified."</p><p>The words hung heavy in the air, and Cornelia's swollen eyes widened in shock. Automatically they slid to Draco, tired eyes meeting tired eyes before she snapped them back to Theodore. "Another attack?" She whispered, a chill passing down her spine, her already twisted stomach clenching tighter.</p><p>Theodore nodded slowly and she could see a slither of fear in his eyes. Now that she was compos mentis, she realised there was a gloomy atmosphere in the entire hall, students everywhere were murmuring quietly about the news and similar looks of fear were echoed in everyone's faces.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>We got a few different feels in this chapter. Could that be... surely not... Cornelia harbouring the beginnings of a crush on the Weasley twins?! I mean, can you remember the first time someone winked at you? I can very clearly. I was in year 7 and he was year 8 and it made me blush so hard. I can still remember what his eyes look like all these years later! I wonder which twin it was?</p><p>And Draco, Draco, Draco - what were you thinking? You crossed the god-damn line.</p><p>Until next time.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Blade to the Throat</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It could be said that two good things came from Draco disastrous last words to Cornelia. One was that he was subdued enough in the days following their fall out and the attack on Colin Creevey that Cornelia was pleased to see that he wasn't drawing any attention to himself, in fact it could be interpreted that he was as worried by the whole situation as everyone else. The second thing came in the shape of Rosalind's reply to Cornelia's hastily written letter where she had vented angrily about Draco.</p><p>
  <em>My Dearest Cornelia,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>It upsets me greatly to hear of the pain Draco has inflicted upon you with his thoughtless and childish words. I am in no doubt that he was simply mirroring what he has learnt from his parents, as children will do when faced with unknown situations. However, that does not mean that this can be overlooked or excused; in fact, you must remember this moment with the greatest clarity for here is the proof of our previous communications – that misogynistic behaviour is learnt at a young age. Children are like sponges; they will soak up even the vilest of lessons. It may not be obvious at first, as you have so believed Draco to be above such ideals, but as you can now see, it is revealed in moments of uncertainty, passion or hardship.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Do not waver in your instincts with this darling, you are right to be so angry, you have been betrayed by your dearest friend and that anger is your driving force. It would not do to allow Draco to continue on the path he is currently taking, and only by realising the consequence, weight and power of his words will he be inclined to change. This is a moment, and it may be a moment of many if you are willing to take up the fight, of revelation for our silly Draco.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>That is not to say that you must be made a martyr of in this whole fiasco, quite the opposite in fact Cornelia. If you please, take this as my first official lesson. From woman to woman, there are few opportunities to teach a man the error of his ways. You could talk until you were blue in the face and unless you have some sort of pulling power, a bargaining point, they would not listen. Trust me, I have tried, my dear. Only when it is so abundantly clear that the man himself recognises that they have made a grave mistake, do you hold this power for change.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>You must hold this mistake like an axe to their necks. Let them know the severity of their errors and that you, and only you, may release them from execution. Drag it out darling, make them suffer, and raise the stakes dramatically. Their freedom for… what? What is it that you desire? What can they give to you? In the case of Draco, I have a suggestion.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>You have previously expressed your desire to spend Christmas with myself and Blaise, perhaps this is an opportunity to bring that wish to reality? I suggest making a deal with Draco. Your friendship for his silence. I doubt he could refuse.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I know this has been a great disappointment to you dearest Cornelia, and unfortunately you must harden yourself to this. It would not do to fall apart every time a man disappoints – you would be dead by the time you were 30.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Do let me know the outcome of this argument with Draco, my dear. Even if you ask something else of the boy, I would be interested in hearing how it turns out for you.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Forever yours,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Rosalind Zabini</em>
</p><p>Cornelia came away from the letter with flushed cheeks and a smile on her lips. As much as she didn't like to admit it, life had felt pretty tragic for the last few days. She was still pretending Draco didn't exist, but if she were being perfectly honest, his hopeless lost puppy stares and the miserable way he held himself was beginning to get to her, and she missed him. Whilst being with just Theodore and Blaise was fine, she felt a sort of responsibility to appear emotionally stable with them, or at least to cover up the wounded part of herself. They looked to her to lead in the tonality of the day, if she was miserable, they would be miserable, if she was silent, they would eventually lapse into silence. None of them had made any attempt to discuss what Draco had said, and instead they followed her in pretending it hadn't happened.</p><p>Being with Draco was completely different. She craved being able to just relax and feel what she felt around someone. She missed his gentle attempts at cheering her up and his upfront manner of discussing their emotional states. Most of all she missed the unspoken communications between them, how they could understand the others mood with just a glance which meant that sometimes the discussion wasn't even needed.</p><p>Rosalind had provided her with a solution that satisfied her need to punish Draco and also to be able to enjoy his company again, not to mention she was sure that it would be the perfect leverage to be able to spend Christmas at the Zabini household.</p><p>It was easy, almost ridiculously easy. She had told Theodore and Blaise to go on to dinner without her whilst she remained in the common room. She had complete faith that if Draco were to see her alone, he would attempt to apologise again. She had been quite impressed with how thoroughly he had swallowed his pride in his repeated attempts to apologise and had to remind herself that it was his pride that had got them in this situation to begin with.</p><p>Just as predicted, Draco and Croyle had emerged into the common room to drop off their bags before heading to dinner, and Draco had done a double take when he spotted Cornelia curled up in the armchair by the fire, seemingly alone. He froze, apparently unsure of what to do, but when Cornelia glanced up and held his gaze steadily it emboldened him to move quickly towards her. She was pleased to notice that he must have told Croyle to go on without him, as he was alone in his advance.</p><p>He hesitated as he neared, and Cornelia made sure to keep her gaze impassive. It was the longest eye contact they had had in days and Draco took courage from this, forcing a nervous smile onto his face.</p><p>"Hey?" he said quietly, his voice questioning, gently probing to see whether she would be willing to interact with him.</p><p>"Hey." Her voice was hard.</p><p>"Can I sit down?" He gestured to the chair beside her.</p><p>"I can't stop you."</p><p>"You could." He said, his smile growing stronger as he began to lower himself into the seat.</p><p>"Stop then." She said quickly and a ghost of a smile flickered on her lips when he actually froze before his bum hit the chair. She pushed it away quickly; <em>Make them suffer</em> Rosalind had said. "Sit there." She gestured her head towards the chair opposite her instead, and she had to fight to hide the celebration dance her insides were doing as Draco slowly obeyed her command.</p><p>They considered each other for a moment when he was finally sat, and she could see Draco was desperately trying to read her expression. She wondered what he could see. Eventually his face slackened into that familiar sad and worried look he had been wearing since they had last spoken.</p><p>"I'm so sorry for what I said." He sounded like he meant it too.</p><p>"I can't believe you said that to me." Cornelia replied in the same hard, emotionless voice. To her surprise Draco collapsed forward, his face falling into his hands and his shoulders scrunching in on themselves.</p><p>"I know. I can't either. I don't know where it came from."</p><p>"Oh really? You can't think of anywhere?" Cornelia refused to be moved by his defeated posture. His hands slid down his face a little and he looked at her with mortified eyes.</p><p>"I was really angry. Really angry with myself." When she didn't answer and just continued to stare at him with cold, dark eyes, he lowered his hands completely and leant towards her. "I really am sorry Nelly. I'll never say anything like that again-"</p><p>"But you'll think it." She cut in and Draco's mouth hung open stupidly before he gathered himself.</p><p>"N-no, I'd never-"</p><p>"Yes you would. You think I should just sit and be quiet like a good girl." Cornelia couldn't help the emotion that rose in her voice now. Where Draco cowered, she towered, glaring down her nose at him.</p><p>"No Nelly, I don't, I swear!" He sounded like he was on the verge of tears, she could see them sparkling in his wide eyes. It was almost enough to ruin her whole plan, and she broke eye contact as she shifted her position to grip her hands to stop them from reaching for Draco. She couldn't stand seeing him cry.</p><p>"Alright then." She said gruffly after a moment, still looking at her clenched hands.</p><p>"Do you believe me?" She didn't dare look up; Draco definitely sounded like he was crying as he choked out his words. Instead, she glanced around the room. Luckily, the common room was practically empty as most of the students had gone up to the great hall for their dinner. Still, she wished she'd thought to pick a more private spot for this conversation; as much as she wanted to punish Draco, she didn't want to humiliate him. "Because I really mean it! I think you should be able to do whatever you want. I like hearing what you have to say, I really miss-"</p><p>"Yes, yes, okay, I believe you." Cornelia rushed, trying to stem the flow of words that were burbling out of Draco as she met his desperate gaze again. They were quiet for a moment as they looked at each other, him leaning forward, she leaning away. She was struggling to say her next words, it went against all her instincts to not comfort Draco. "But I don't forgive you." She eventually managed.</p><p>Draco's face fell and Cornelia's heart sunk as the tears started up again. "I mean I don't forgive you yet." She said quickly.</p><p>"Wh-what - what can I do?" He stammered, the tears coming thick and fast now and Cornelia just couldn't keep it up anymore. She rushed to his side, squeezing into the chair beside him and throwing her arms around him. He returned the hug fiercely, silent sobs wracking through his body as he buried his face into her shoulder.</p><p>She was shocked, she hadn't seen Draco this regretful since the day he had lied to replace Mrs Bagshot and gotten her whipped in the process. She wondered whether she really needed to continue with her plan, whether it was worth it, but Rosalind had been very clear, she needed a bargaining point.</p><p>"I don't want to go to the manor for Christmas. I can't stand it there." She said quietly, her voice soft now. She felt Draco nod against her neck. Her heart raced as she said her next words "I want to go to Blaise's instead."</p><p>Draco's sobs subsided quickly and he pushed to sit up and stare at her. "Zabini?" He asked stupidly and Cornelia smirked at him.</p><p>"Who else?"</p><p>"Why?"</p><p>She hardened her expression again and folded her arms across her chest. "Why does it matter?" She couldn't tell him about Rosalind, she couldn't afford for him to start asking questions, she couldn't risk him telling Lucius. "If you want me to really forgive you, you have to cover for me."</p><p>Draco shook his head. "I can't!" He whined, but when Cornelia moved to stand up he lunged forward, grasping her hands and pulling her back down. "No – I just mean I don't think I can convince mother and father!"</p><p>"Of course you can." Cornelia huffed curtly.</p><p>"I don't know Nelly…"</p><p>"Well, you can forget about being friends then!" She wrenched her hands from his and stood sharply.</p><p>"Wait! Nelly, wait! I'll just stay here instead!" He cried desperately and Cornelia stilled where she had begun to pace away. She glanced back at him, he looked sad and desperate again.</p><p>"Really?"</p><p>"Yes, of course! I'll just say neither of us want to come home for Christmas! They won't question me about you that way."</p><p>A genuine smile broke out across Cornelia's face and the relief was clear in Draco's. She returned back to his chair and hugged him again before pulling away and fussily wiping the tears from his face. He struggled against her, dragging her hands away and holding them in his lap instead. His gaze was searching on her eyes.</p><p>"So you forgive me?" He asked carefully and she nodded happily. He let go of one of her hands to reach up and gently touch her earlobe. She beamed, a warmth spreading in her chest.</p><p>"I'm here." She said and her heart felt like it was going to burst with happiness when Draco returned her smile with an overjoyed one of his own.</p><p>It seemed that their discussion happened at the perfect time, as the next day Professor Snape appeared in the common room compiling a list of students remaining at the castle for Christmas. Cornelia and Draco shared a look before he signed his name, followed immediately by Croyle.</p><p>On top of that, Cornelia, Blaise and Theodore had completed their preparations for their prank on Professor Lockhart. Lockhart had become completely insufferable, the only slightly interesting class he had held was when he had brought in a cage full of Cornish pixies. Cornelia had been sat beside Theodore and had heard his whisper of "alohamora" as Lockhart had spouted pompous rubbish about how difficult the pixies were. The cage door had sprung open and the resulting havoc had been entirely worth it as Lockhart's spell to round up the pixies failed miserably and had resulted in him fleeing up to his office above the classroom.</p><p>Since then, the three of them had been working on creating an irreversible hair dying potion that they would conceal inside a fancy looking shampoo bottle to gift to the professor. Finally, when they had perfected the solution (Blaise had lead on the brewing), Cornelia remained behind to behave like a love-struck teenage girl, giggling nervously as she handed over the shampoo.</p><p>"It's a family recipe for curly hair." She gestured to her own head of wild curls and blushed prettily. "I remember you saying honey was your favourite scent so…"</p><p>"Ah, Cornelia was it? What a thoughtful gift!" Lockhart had fixed her with one of his brilliantly white smiles, his cheeks dimpling in his trademark fashion. She held her breath as he uncorked the bottle and inhaled the scent. "Absolutely delightful, I shall use it this evening!"</p><p>Cornelia had held her breath as she left the classroom, but she couldn't hold in the cackle that burst from her when she ran into Blaise and Theodore waiting outside the door to see how it had gone.</p><p>In the week that followed, they actually looked forward to their DADA classes, arriving 5 minutes before anybody else and waiting impatiently outside the door. They were sorely disappointed each time when Lockhart opened the door with his usual confidence, his soft curls still a warm blonde.</p><p>"Do you think he hasn't used it yet?" Blaise had whispered furiously as the trio had trailed to their seats, shoulders slumped and previous enthusiasm gone. Cornelia shrugged.</p><p>"I'll find out after class." She muttered.</p><p>However, Lockhart had beamed up at her when she had made her way over to his desk as the rest of the class filtered from the room. "Cornelia! I meant to mention, wonderful stuff that shampoo. Smells divine! I don't suppose you would be willing to give me the recipe?" He winked at her, but unlike when the Weasley twin had winked at her, her heart did not speed up.</p><p>There didn't seem to be any underlying meaning to his words and his smile was bright and genuine, and Cornelia left the room feeling puzzled and frustrated.</p><p>"But why didn't it work?" Blaise had complained quietly at lunch that day. "We covered everything!"</p><p>"Maybe he knew a counter-charm." Theodore pointed out but Cornelia shook her head and snorted.</p><p>"He couldn't counter-charm a cat!"</p><p>Blaise giggled and leant back in his seat. "A cat?"</p><p>Cornelia shrugged. "I like cats."</p><p>"Maybe he didn't really use it yet." Theodore suggested and they agreed – that had to be it.</p><p>Later that evening a crowd was gathered around the notice board , chattering excitedly as Cornelia, Blaise and Theodore entered. Draco was amongst them and she made her way over to him.</p><p>"What is it?" She asked, peering through the rest of the students. "Not another attack?"</p><p>"No, they're starting a duelling club!" He replied, and Cornelia's eyebrows shot up. Draco grinned at her, they had spent hours of fun playing at duelling when they were younger, making up spells and pointing broken twigs at each other, dramatically acting out their reactions to the curses they shouted. Cornelia's favourite books in the Malfoy library had been the ones on curses and hexes, although Aunt Cissy had made it difficult for her to get her hands on any that were too grown up for her.</p><p>"Are they training us up to take on the heir of Slytherin or something?" She asked, making her way closer to the board.</p><p>"I reckon it's just an excuse for Snape to humiliate Lockhart."</p><p>Cornelia barked out a laugh. "Snape and Lockhart? Oh, this is going to be good!"</p><p>And it didn't disappoint. Cornelia, Draco, Blaise and Theodore were amongst what looked to be the majority of the school who turned up to the duelling club. The Great Hall had been transformed to create a long golden stage that stretched the length of one wall, the sky was dark above them and Snape and Lockhart were illuminated by the warm light of the candles that floated overhead.</p><p>Professor Snape was watching Lockhart with eyes that glittered with dislike, and Cornelia felt a little giddy as Lockhart paraded up and down the podium like a catwalk. She couldn't wait to see Snape's brilliant mind meet Lockhart's slow one.</p><p>Lockhart's hair still gleamed a stubborn golden colour, a point of soreness for Cornelia, Blaise and Theodore, who couldn't believe that they had been outsmarted by the DADA professor, and he turned to greet them all like long lost friends.</p><p>"Gather round, gather round!" He called with arms wide, and Cornelia begrudgingly admired his impeccable taste in robes. "Can everyone see me? Can you all hear me? Excellent!"</p><p>When he introduced Snape as his assistant, Cornelia couldn't resist the laughter that bubbled to her lips, drawing a few odd looks in their direction. The expression of deep loathing on Professor Snape's face was just too good, and she was certain the revenge she so desired for Lockhart was just around the corner.</p><p>A nail-biting silence descended on the hall when the professors turned to face each other in a duelling stance, the students holding their breath and watching with eager eyes. All of a sudden, Theodore gasped "It's a wig!" at precisely the same time that Snape whipped his wand forward in a blur and cried "Expelliarmus!"</p><p>Two things happened at once, Professor Lockhart seemed to spin through the air in slow motion, a blur of gold and lilac, and Cornelia's brain leapt into action. Almost without consciously making the decision to do it, her eyes had trained on the golden hue of his hair, her wand was drawn and her lips uttered "wingardium leviosa!"</p><p>When Lockhart hit the wall and landed sprawled on the floor, there was an uproar from the students. Beneath the perfect golden locks of his wig (because Theodore had been right) there wasn't the dyed black hair that Cornelia had been expecting, but instead the candlelight bounced back off an incredibly shiny and smooth bald head.</p><p>The laughter that ensued was hysterical and spilled out of the hall and into the castle beyond. Admittedly it was mainly the male population that found the situation so funny, many of the girls were wearing expressions of horror and some were shushing their neighbours with a scowl. Cornelia, on the other hand, howled alongside Theodore, Blaise and Draco, tears streaming down their faces as Lockhart got to his feet looking bewildered. Only when a timid looking Hufflepuff girl reached up to hand him back the golden wig that had flown into the audience, did he begin to look mortified. He ripped the wig from her hands and hurriedly placed it back on his head, his mouth gaping open and shut repeatedly.</p><p>Even Snape's smirk had grown to represent a wicked grin, and he allowed the mania to continue for a good few minutes longer than necessary. It seemed he was enjoying watching Lockhart suffer as much as Cornelia. Eventually however, he raised a hand and called for silence before gesturing to Lockhart to continue.</p><p>Lockhart's face was drained of colour and he appeared to be shaking. "R-right well. That's enough demonstrating!" He stammered and Cornelia's shoulders shook with silent laughter. "If you could all get into pairs and practise amongst yourselves!"</p><p>To give him credit, Cornelia was surprised Lockhart didn't flee from the room at the first opportunity, instead moving sheepishly amongst them to put them into pairs. Cornelia had automatically paired up with Draco, looking forward to putting their old fantasy routine into practise, but Snape had other ideas.</p><p>"Mr Malfoy come over here. Let's see what you make of the famous Potter. Miss Lestrange, I think you'll be more than a match for Weasley." Cornelia and Draco shared a disappointed look before sidling off to face their new opponents who looked as unhappy with the arrangement as they were.</p><p>As Cornelia eyed Ron Weasley she realised the last thing she needed was to fall victim to another backfiring hex from his broken wand, and knew that whatever she did, she needed to take him out quickly, not only for herself but to watch over Draco too. Her eyes slid over to where he and Harry were standing off with matching vicious expressions before returning to Ron who was glaring at her sullenly, although she thought she could recognise a nervous tightening around his eyes, and he held himself in an alert position.</p><p>"Worried about Malfoy?" He called jeeringly.</p><p>"Well, I'm not worried about <em>you</em>, Weasley." She returned with a smirk before bowing their heads woodenly at each other and tensing as Lockhart counted down.</p><p>When Lockhart reached "2'" it became apparent that her and Draco had had the same idea. She heard his voice rise alongside her own, and she made a note to herself that they should have a proper duel together sometime after this. She saw Harry stumble from the corner of her eye at the same time Ron yelled "URGH!" and dropped his wand-turned-to-slug to the ground.</p><p>"What's wrong? I thought you liked slugs!" Cornelia cackled, already turning her attention to Draco and Harry. Harry recovered quickly from Draco's spell and Cornelia flinched as he hit Draco with a tickling charm.</p><p>She was just about to step forward to take on Potter herself when Draco managed to wheeze out "tarantallegra" causing Potter's legs to dance wildly. Cornelia's laughter rang loud and high as Lockhart screamed at them to stop, and Snape stepped forward to remove the charms from Draco and Harry.</p><p>Looking around the room, everyone was looking a little worse for wear, and Cornelia's laughter bubbled up again when she saw Theodore and Blaise dragging themselves up off the floor, Blaise clutching his side and wincing, and Theodore with a bloodied nose.</p><p>Lockhart looked thoroughly flustered, the duelling club had not gone to plan at all for him; his smile was gone, wig askew and he was stammering out plans to teach them how to block spells. Cornelia in the meantime caught Draco's eye and flashed him an impressed grin which he returned furtively. Suddenly Snape's voice cut through their silent interaction.</p><p>"How about Malfoy and Potter?" He was suggesting to Lockhart, his eyes glittering in a way that suggested that Lockhart could not disagree. Cornelia realised he had volunteered the two boys to demonstrate to the rest of the students as they were ushered into the centre of the room, and she made sure to position herself as close to Draco as possible.</p><p>Whilst she was a little nervous and held her wand tightly by her side, as she stared at Draco's confident stance and unwavering gaze on Potter, she realised that she was also quite proud of him. He could hold his own easily against Potter, and for once Uncle Lucius's lazy arrogance looked good on him. When she cast a quick look around the students and spotted Pansy Parkinson across the crowd admiring Draco too, her eyes narrowed and the violent image of her cursing Pansy's eyes shut flashed through her mind.</p><p>Lockhart's cry of "3, 2, 1" snapped her attention back to Draco just in time to see him quickly raise his wand and bellow "Serpentsortia!"</p><p>It was a spell she had never heard of before, and her surprise was as great as everyone else's when a great black snake exploded from the end of his wand, fell to the floor and raised its head to strike at Potter.</p><p>"Don't move Potter, I'll get rid of it." Drawled Snape, moving ever so slightly too slowly from beside Draco with a mean look on his face.</p><p>"Allow me!" Shouted Lockhart, darting forward and brandishing his wand flamboyantly, apparently attempting to make up for his less than impressive start to the club. There was a loud bang and the snake flew ten feet in the air, seeming to fall back to the ground in slow motion as the crowd scattered away from it in horror. When it landed with a loud slap on the flagged floor, it was obvious that the snake was furious, whipping it's head back and forth for the nearest victim before fixing its gaze on Justin Finch Fletchley and advancing with terrifying speed.</p><p>Before anyone could react, Potter had stepped forwards and was hissing and spitting in a bizarre, guttural voice. The snake froze and turned its head to face him before continuing in its advance towards Justin, hesitating and then falling completely still.</p><p>Cornelia was amongst the rest of the students present holding their breaths and staring in horror at Harry Potter, who seemed completely oblivious to what he had just done. He actually grinned at Justin – grinned! Cornelia had a split second of wondering if she had mis-judged Potter, perhaps he was more malicious than she originally thought; but when his face crumpled in confusion at Justin's furious reaction she realised it was more as if Potter had no idea of the implications of what speaking Parseltongue meant, even if the coincidental timing of the whole situation seemed too great to be true.</p><p>Ron and Hermione were the first to break the heavy silence that filled the previously excited hall following Justin's exit, rushing forward to Harry and whispering in his ear, before dragging him towards the double doors leaving the hall. Cornelia followed in their lead, stepping quietly up to Draco and joining him in glowering at Potter's fast retreating back.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Here is a nice long chapter for you :)</p><p>I've had a couple of messages of support for Rosalind, I also think she's brilliant, but she sure isn't innocent! I love writing her views on the patriarchy of the noble wizarding families and her ways of navigating this system and working it to her advantage. She's sharp and manipulative and I'm really looking forward to seeing how she will pass these skills onto Cornelia. If anyone has watched Dangerous Liasons I am taking a lot of inspiration from the main female character of that film, the Marquise. She's incredibly skilled at playing 'the game' and not getting caught, bending people and situations to her will, and has a brilliant speech on how she has learnt to smile politely at a dinner table whilst stabbing her hand with a fork beneath it.</p><p>So the big fallout between Draco and Cornelia - was it worth it for the make up? Draco is a softie who wears his emotions on his sleeve whereas Cornelia is hardened and is working to become more manipulative in these situations, both of them strike out when angered - what a combo!</p><p>As for the rest of the chapter, I feel like it dragged a little. I have felt myself getting into a routine where I am just following the events of the book and writing Cornelia into them, which isn't something I particularly want to fall into. I will be practising writing more unique situations and interactions between Cornelia and her friends (and enemies) in the coming chapters! Although I am aware that I do want to get into Prisoner of Azkaban sooner rather than later, it's coming I swear. In the meantime, let's just enjoy watching Cornelia struggle, grow and learn into a woman witch!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Stormy Skies</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Draco spent the majority of the evening after the duelling club in a predictable sulk. Cornelia was irritated, she had wanted to celebrate with Draco and portray some of the pride she had felt watching him duel. Instead, she was curled up on an armchair in the common room with Draco lounging on the floor at her feet, alternating between staring blankly at the book in his lap and bitterly into the fireplace.</p><p>She had attempted to tell him how well he had done as they had left the duelling club, only to have her words brushed away with a "Outdone by Potter again though wasn't I?" so she had resorted to being his silent companion instead. That was until Pansy Parkinson approached them an hour later. Cornelia had watched her with narrow eyes, stiffening in her seat, but Pansy only had eyes for Draco - wide puppy eyes.</p><p>"I just wanted to say I thought you were brilliant tonight, Draco." She said breathlessly, and once again, Cornelia couldn't suppress the violent imagery that filled her thoughts at the sight of her.</p><p>Draco looked up from his brooding to stare at her with a nonplussed expression. "Err, thanks Pansy."</p><p>Cornelia watched with rising anger at the smirk that grew on Draco's lips as he noticed Pansy's adoring expression and as she continued to simper, "You would have wiped the floor with Harry if the duel had carried on!"</p><p>"Do you think so?"</p><p>"Oh yes!" Pansy made a move as if she were about to swoop onto the floor beside Draco, but Cornelia moved so quickly she seemed to stop her in her tracks. Cornelia swung her legs from beneath her to the floor so one pressed against Draco's arm, before leaning forward onto her knees and peering into Draco's face that had tilted backwards at her sudden movement.</p><p>"That serpent spell at the end – what was it?" She asked, capturing Draco's attention with an intense look.</p><p>"Serpentsortia, did you like it?"</p><p>"I did." Cornelia smirked as she saw Pansy hesitate from the corner of her eye. "I was thinking that, since we didn't get the chance tonight, we should have a duel of our own soon."</p><p>Draco's eyes lit up and his answering grin filled Cornelia with victory, Pansy didn't stand a chance at re-capturing his attention now. "Definitely! Where shall we do it?"</p><p>"Mmm, somewhere in the grounds?" Cornelia replied, but her eyes were following Pansy who was slinking away back to Daphne and Sally-Anne, throwing sour looks over her shoulder at them. When she was sure she was out of earshot she reached down and flicked Draco on the nose.</p><p>"Ouch! What was that for?" He exclaimed, shoving her hand away.</p><p>"So, you'll listen when Pansy tells you how 'brilliant' you are but not me?" She hissed. Confusion flitted across Draco's features as he stared up at her before being replaced with a smug comprehension, which Cornelia eyed suspiciously.</p><p>"You think I'm brilliant?" He sneered at her and Cornelia raised her hand to flick him again, but he flinched away laughing before launching himself on to the chair she was in to sit beside her. Cornelia couldn't help the huff of laughter that escaped her in response, and she rolled her eyes. "Well do you?" Draco pressed.</p><p>"Of course I do! I tried to tell you already!"</p><p>"Well, tell me now." Draco had curled up beside her, leaning heavily on her shoulder with an easy smile on his face, and a familiar, comfortable atmosphere fell between them. Cornelia realised then that these moments were getting fewer and further between for her and Draco. Perhaps this was the reason she caved in and gave Draco exactly what he wanted, even though she doubted feeding his ego was probably a good thing in the long run.</p><p>"Okay, okay, you were brilliant Draco." She said seriously and Draco's smile faltered for a moment.</p><p>"Thank you." He said eventually. "Continue." He added, nodding his head, and Cornelia shoved him away from her playfully.</p><p>"No way, that's all you're getting!" She laughed and the serenity of the moment seemed to whisk away all of the problems that year had already presented. The troubling letters from Rosalind, the opening of the chamber of secrets, hers and Draco's stormy relationship; all drifted away as they lapsed into the comforting companionship they had shared since childhood.</p><p>This serenity didn't last long as the next afternoon the entire school went into lockdown after the discovery of a double attack – Justin Finch Fletchley and Nearly Headless Nick were found frozen in a corridor, eyes wide and staring. What was even more concerning was that once again, Harry Potter was the one to discover them, apparently confirming the whispers around the school that he was the Heir of Slytherin.</p><p>"How can he be the heir if he isn't even in Slytherin?" Draco had groaned as they, along with the rest of the Slytherin's, were ordered to remain in the common room.</p><p>"He isn't the heir." Cornelia replied confidently and Theodore nodded beside her.</p><p>"Did you see his face when he spoke parseltongue? It's like he had no idea what he was doing." He added.</p><p>"Well, obviously he isn't the heir, he's an idiot!" Draco spat and Cornelia chuckled.</p><p>"That's true. You would have thought the Heir of Slytherin would at least be able to do a counter spell. Or maybe Potter just liked dancing around the hall yesterday."</p><p>The weeks leading up to Christmas were extremely tense and quiet around the castle, all of the students other than the Slytherins were terrified to be outside their classrooms or common rooms alone. There had been a big rush of students going home for Christmas which meant that Draco was amongst the few remaining in the castle for the holiday, as well as Potter, Granger and the Weasleys. When she thought about it, guilt curled in Cornelia's stomach. She knew that Draco would have much preferred to be at the manor for Christmas, it was an enjoyable time for him when he was pampered and spoilt by his parents.</p><p>The good thing about the abandoned halls and grounds between and after classes meant that it gave Cornelia and Draco the perfect opportunity to find a secretive spot for their duel. They decided to have it on a miserable Saturday, and Cornelia insisted on doing it outside in the pouring rain.</p><p>"Come on, it'll be dramatic!" She told Draco, who she knew wouldn't be able to resist her whims. Especially if it meant a duelling match.</p><p>"But it'll be cold!"</p><p>"No it won't, look – I'm pretty good at the warming charm."</p><p>"Why do you want to do it outside?" Draco whined, but he was still following her. Whilst they hadn't been given explicit instructions not to leave the castle, it was an unspoken rule amongst the students and professors, so they had to move quickly and quietly.</p><p>"Because I don't want you to get embarrassed when everyone sees me destroy you." Cornelia had whispered in a deadpan voice and Draco snorted.</p><p>"You wish."</p><p>"We'll see!"</p><p>They had taken the more conspicuous route to the grounds rather than the enormous double doors that opened out onto the front courtyard, and they hadn't met anyone along their journey which felt a little ominous. However, when they finally stepped outside and the sound of the rain hitting the castle walls and the ground met their ears, and their noses were filled with the damp smell of grass, it blew away all the tension and anxiety that the castle seemed to be harbouring. Despite feeling safe in their blood status and house, the atmosphere of the castle was catching and filled everyone within it with a sickening darkness.</p><p>Cornelia took a deep breath, and even Draco was uncomplaining as they took a moment to stare up at the stormy skies above them. Then Cornelia turned towards him with an excited grin, her wand in hand. "Keep still." She ordered, casting the warming charm on his chest and back beneath his cloak. Draco hummed in appreciation, his clothes suddenly toasty warm as if they had been resting upon a radiator, and suddenly he realised that Cornelia was right to have insisted they duel outside; it broke the monotony their lives had become under the reign of the secret Heir of Slytherin. He stomped excitedly on the spot as Cornelia cast the spell upon herself before she turned to him with a grin.</p><p>"Ready?" She asked, but rather than responding, Draco barrelled forward into the rain, his cloak streaming behind him as he sprinted across the path that lead down towards the lake. In a blink of an eye Cornelia was racing after him, a wide grin on her face that was soaked within seconds, her hair plastered to her forehead and cheeks. She held in her shrieks of laughter until she felt like she was far away enough from the castle walls to not be recognised as they slipped and slid down the muddy path, but she couldn't contain herself when Draco (who was now within reach in front of her) dropped like a rock to the floor, sprawling on his back in the mud. Her howls of laughter ripped through the air, and she clutched her slides as if to hold herself together, tears joining the rain on her cheeks.</p><p>Draco remained on the floor for a moment, his expression a little dazed before struggling as if he were trying to get up, only to draw his wand from his cloak, point it at the hysterical Cornelia and shout "Rictusempra!"</p><p>Cornelia's legs gave way as the tickling charm added to her hilarity, and she joined Draco on the ground, her shrieks of laughter on the verge of pain as she gasped for air. Draco sat opposite her, his sneer slowly giving way to laughter himself. Cornelia managed to somehow draw her own wand and before Draco could scramble to his feet to get out of firing range she had yelled "Flipendo!" between convulsions.</p><p>It felt as if he had been punched in the stomach by an enormous fist and he flew through the air some several feet away from Cornelia, landing in a heap on the boggy grass surrounding the path. Cornelia seized the opportunity to utter the counter charm on herself and, taking heaving breaths, managed to drag herself to her feet. Her legs were shaking as she took off running down the path again, hindering her speed significantly.</p><p>She continued to hiccup the odd giggle as she slipped desperately down the path, hearing Draco struggling to catch her not far behind. The thrill of the chase was intoxicating, and even though her mind knew she was perfectly safe with Draco, her body reacted as if the danger was very real. Every nerve was static with electric energy, the slippery ground underfoot and the heavy dampness of her clothes doing nothing but heightening her senses.</p><p>She thrust her wand out behind her and threw another knockback jinx at random through the air. She heard Draco yelp, but it sounded as if her spell hadn't hit. The red flash of his responding spell shot through the air close to her left foot and she screamed, jumping to the right and almost falling down again, her scream transforming into more manic laughter. She spun on her heel when she caught her balance and pointed her wand at Draco who had almost reached her.</p><p>His face was flushed, his soaked silver hair pulled away from his face, his eyes and smile were wide with excitement, and he was splattered from head to toe in mud. The sight stole the spell from Cornelia's mouth as she burst out laughing again as he slid to a stop in front of her, but the sight of his own drawn wand forced her to splutter "Expelliarmus!"</p><p>Her aim was true and his wand soared through the air towards her, but her reflexes didn't match and she dropped it, the wood slipping past her wet skin. They both dove for where the wand landed on the ground, and Draco's arm knocked Cornelia's feet from beneath her - she landed face first in the dirt.</p><p>Draco's previously hushed laughter burst forth in a roar as she pushed up, spitting foul tasting mud from her mouth, unable to see through the dripping sludge coating her face. The wand was all but forgotten as Draco cried laughing, flopping to join Cornelia on the ground as she attempted to wipe the mud from her face with an equally muddy sleeve. Eventually he took pity and grabbed her face, holding her still as he roughly wiped her down with his slightly cleaner robes, still guffawing heartily.</p><p>"I win." He chuckled when Cornelia's scowling face became visible beneath the mud.</p><p>"No!" she growled, pulling away from him and raising her wand. But Draco was too quick, swatting the wand out of her hand and watching it join his on the ground.</p><p>"Definitely." He grinned, and she pointed to her face.</p><p>"<em>This </em>does not count as victory!" She said vehemently, cracking Draco up again.</p><p>"H-how does it taste?" He spluttered and Cornelia huffed, grabbing her wand and getting roughly to her feet.</p><p>"Foul!" Her answer had him spiralling into fits again and she swiftly moved her wand, muttering the counter-charm to her warming spell that still lingered on Draco's robes.</p><p>"Gah!" Draco yelped as the true cold and damp of his clothes touched his skin, shocking the laughter from him. He grabbed his own wand and struggled to his feet, shivering slightly. "That's not very nice, Nelly." He said lightly, his grin dampened to a slight smirk tugging on the corner of his lips.</p><p>"I'm not nice." Cornelia snapped, beginning to stomp her way back up to the castle.</p><p>Draco caught up with her, easily falling into step beside her. "Good fight." He said after a few minutes of quiet between the two of them, holding out his hand to her. She glanced at his hand and then up at his face, a smile finally cracking the glum mould of her face. She grasped his hand and shook it firmly once before letting go.</p><p>"It was a pleasure." She added, and Draco leant down to catch her hand in his again, grinning happily at her, pleased she had finished sulking.</p><p>She wasn't sure why, but something felt different about this time from the other times they had held hands, and as Draco slipped his fingers through hers her heart stammered at the contact. They were used to clasping hands, they had been doing that since they were toddlers, but this new way felt much more intimate as their damp fingers intertwined.</p><p>They didn't speak again as they climbed the slope that seemed so long now, and the air felt heavy with implications between them. When they reached the point where the path widened towards the entrance of the castle, without speaking, they both reached the decision to drop the others hand. They glanced at each other almost sheepishly, both of their faces were pink, although Cornelia couldn't be sure if that wasn't from the trek up.</p><p>"We look ridiculous." Draco's voice broke whatever tension had built up around them and Cornelia realised that she had been holding her breath. She let it out in a whoosh of relieved laughter.</p><p>"Speak for yourself."</p><p>"Well actually I was trying to be nice, it's really mainly just you that looks like a swamp monster."</p><p>She barged him with her shoulder as they stepped dripping into the hall. Their shoes squeaked comically, the pattering of the water dripping from their robes following them as they made their way to the Slytherin common room. It was a wonder that they weren't caught by Filch, but the castle had remained exactly how they had left it, ghostly and still.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This was our first full Draco and Cornelia chapter! It was a little shorter than any of the others but I wanted to keep it full of the cute stuff. It's nice to see some good vibes between them - I genuinely love writing about the two of them together, they gots good chemistry. That being said, how long do you think this peace is going to last?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Jasmine & Honey</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The day for Christmas break came around slowly, and Cornelia awoke on the day to a stomach full of fluttering butterflies, her blood seeming to hum in her veins with nerves and anticipation. Finally the day had arrived where she would properly get to meet Rosalind in person and she both couldn't wait and wanted to cancel the whole thing. She didn't really know what to expect, they had had no problem talking via their letters which they had been exchanging all term, but what if it that didn't matter when they were face to face? What if things were awkward? Perhaps things would be easier if she just remained in the castle with Draco.</p><p>She forced herself up and pulled open her wardrobe, it was definitely a day for her best clothes. She pulled out a white blouse with a sheer lace high collar that continued in a strip down her arms to the buttoned cuffs, and a double buttoned satin, black dress that fell to her calves. She would pull her hair up and pin it back with the snake hair pin Rosalind had gifted her and wear her knee-high lace up black boots to top the look off.</p><p>She packed her case with the remainder of her nicest clothes, before rushing off to get showered and dressed. When she eventually made it to the common room, Theodore, Blaise and Draco were all seated together and they looked up as she made her way over to them.</p><p>It seemed that Blaise had joined her in dressing sharp in what were clearly perfectly tailored black trousers, a mustard turtleneck and a long black coat draped over the arm of the sofa he sat in. They appraised each other with mocking eyes before she placed herself carefully beside her.</p><p>"You took your time." He said slyly and Cornelia just ignored him, lifting her chin and looking across to Draco instead. She was surprised to see Draco glowered in her direction, his eyes flitting darkly between her and Blaise. Theodore, amongst the first to read the situation as usual, quickly broke the tension.</p><p>"You look nice, Cornelia."</p><p>Cornelia met his smile with one of her own, glad to have Theodore around. "Thank you, I thought I best make a bit of an effort."</p><p>"For me? You shouldn't have." Blaise teased and Cornelia's heart skipped a bit as she sent a slightly panicked look in Draco's direction. Clearly Blaise didn't have Theodore's skill in reading the room.</p><p>"Don't be so ridiculous." She snapped, but as was often the case, her irritation only encouraged Blaise.</p><p>"And to think you're getting me all to yourself for the entire Christmas break." His cheeky smile would have usually gotten a chuckle out of her, but she didn't have time to react before Draco stood up sharply and stormed away from them. Cornelia glared angrily at Blaise for a moment, who was watching Draco leave with a look of dawning realisation, before stepping quickly after him.</p><p>She followed him quietly down into the boys dormitory without thinking twice about it; only when she stepped lightly into the room and was greeted with the sight of unmade beds and dirty laundry spewed across the floor did she freeze. Draco stomped over to his bed, apparently unaware she had followed him and flopped down on to it. Only when she finally unstuck herself, averting her eyes from the clothing that looked suspiciously like underwear on the floor, and started walking slowly towards him, did his head snap up to look at her. His eyes were round like dinner plates and he shot back up to standing.</p><p>"What are you-"</p><p>"What are <em>you </em>doing running off before I leave?" She cut across him, trying to give the impression that she wasn't in the least bit affected by finding herself in the boys dormitory. Draco had the decency to at least look a little sheepish as he broke eye contact. His eyes fell instead upon an item of clothing on the floor and he made an odd high pitched noise, pink spots appearing on his cheeks.</p><p>"You shouldn't be in here!" His voice was significantly higher than before and Cornelia supressed a giggle.</p><p>"Oh please, I've been in your room before." She plonked herself down on his bed beside where he stood.</p><p>"Nelly! This isn't just my room!" He began desperately scooping clothes off the floor and tipping them in a pile out of her sight, before rushing back over and attempting to make his bed around her.</p><p>"Let me help…" She smirked, taking out her wand and levitating an item of clothing he had missed (which happened to be a pair of boxer shorts) right into his face.</p><p>She snorted as he scrabbled wildly at them whilst crying "Nelly, stop!" before chucking them at the growing pile by someone else's bed. He was definitely blushing now… and scowling deeply.</p><p>"Why are you in here anyway?" He snapped Cornelia gave him a look that clearly said 'isn't it obvious?'.</p><p>"I wanted to give you your Christmas present." She said after a pause, reaching into her bag and pulling a small, neatly wrapped parcel.</p><p>It was amusing how quickly Draco's fierce expression changed, his mouth making an 'oh' shape, and he sat down beside her on the bed. "What is it?" He asked as he took the parcel from her. She rolled her eyes.</p><p>"Why do you ask that every year?"</p><p>Draco met her eyes and they smiled gently at each other, both in unspoken agreement that their previous tiff was now over.</p><p>"Can I open it now?" He asked and she shrugged.</p><p>"If you like."</p><p>He began to rip open the edge of the paper when he froze. "Oh wait!" he breathed before diving under the bed and emerging with a very book shaped parcel.</p><p>"For me?" Cornelia feigned surprise, and they commenced unwrapping their presents together.</p><p>Cornelia had given Draco a bottle of leftover hair dye that her, Theodore and Blaise had brewed for Lockhart, and she could barely contain her giggles as Draco considered the bottle thoughtfully, before uncorking it and sniffing it. When he looked at her questioningly she reached out and stroked his hair with a mock look of concern on her face. "I know you've always wanted to dye these forsaken silver locks of yours." She said seriously, but pulling her hand away quicker than she originally intended and slightly ruining the joke in the process.</p><p>"You gave me hair dye?" Draco sounded unimpressed; his eyes narrowed.</p><p>"You don't like it?" She pretended to sound shocked.</p><p>Draco sighed and gestured at the half-opened gift in her lap. "Just open yours."</p><p>Cornelia turned her attention back to her present, unwrapping it to reveal a decadently decorated book with the title in silvery letters '<em>Hexes to Enlighten'. </em>She frowned, tracing the title with her finger before looking back at Draco, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable about her joke gift.</p><p>"This is perfect Draco." She said woodenly, her eyes flitting down to the bottle he had already discarded to his bedside table.</p><p>"Do you like it?" Draco was watching her worriedly, her expression and voice clearly not expressing the delight he had expected. She forced herself to smile.</p><p>"It looks amazing… I just feel bad about your present now."</p><p>He shrugged, a grin growing on his face, obviously satisfied with her happiness. She sighed, before unexpectedly throwing her arms around his shoulders and squeezing him tightly. "Thank you." She murmured, squeezing her eyes shut as his arms snaked around her back to return her hug. She felt overwhelmed with a sudden wash of appreciation for Draco, which was accompanied by an odd sensation of dread. She didn't understand it, but she was filled with renewed determination to protect the sweet and thoughtful Draco, <em>her </em>Draco, at all costs.</p><p>Later that day, Cornelia, Blaise and Theodore were sharing a compartment on the Hogwarts Express as they travelled away from the castle for their Christmas break. Cornelia had been quite glum when they had first got on the train, her mind back in the common room where Draco remained, but as they train had picked up speed she had begun to fidget a little with nerves and excitement.</p><p>"What's your house like?" She asked Blaise, who was lazily chewing on a liquorice wand, sprawled across the entire row of seats opposite her and Theodore, who were sharing a box of Bertie Botts.</p><p>"Filled with naked women." He answered in a deadpan voice, and Cornelia aimed a kick at him. "No really, in case you hadn't noticed, mother loves women."</p><p>Cornelia fidgeted again. "Why would I have noticed that?" She hadn't discussed her letters with Rosalind with anybody, as far as they were concerned she had only received two letters from her. However, when Blaise fixed her with a dead eyed stare, she couldn't be so sure about her discretion.</p><p>"I do recognise my own house owl you know." He said meaningfully and Cornelia's skin crawled with embarrassment. She didn't know what to say to that and cleared her throat awkwardly. "Anyway, you'll see. I hope you like breasts."</p><p>"Blaise!" Cornelia and Theodore's voices both rang high in the compartment and Blaise chuckled.</p><p>When they eventually pulled in at Kings Cross Station, Cornelia was practically shaking with nerves. When they exited the train into the crowd on the platform, she singled out Rosalind immediately. She seemed to tower above the rest of the parents and families, relaxed and statuesque amongst the bustle and noise of the station. When their eyes met, Rosalind seemed to glow even brighter as a dazzling smile melted her features. She made her way over to them in the same fluid way that Cornelia had noticed back in September, and Cornelia had to remember to breathe.</p><p>"Merry Christmas darlings." She sang in her soothing voice, embracing Blaise immediately before turning to Cornelia and, violet eyes glinting, wrapping her arms around her as well.</p><p>She smelt fantastic, a deep musky Oudh with the sharp floral overtone of Ylang Ylang, and despite feeling entirely stunned, Cornelia found herself inhaling deeply.</p><p>"It is so wonderful to meet you in the flesh." Rosalind hummed in her ear and all Cornelia could do was nod robotically, her cheeks burning. Rosalind smiled softly at her as she pulled away, then turned her gaze adoringly back to Blaise.</p><p>"How are you my dear?" She asked, placing a perfectly manicured hand with deep red, sharp nails, upon his cheek.</p><p>"Glad to be back. Hogwarts has been like a prison these past few weeks." He replied, not seeming to mind the loving contact his mother gave him, whereas others his age may have cringed away.</p><p>"So I have heard. But perhaps this isn't the best place to discuss such matters. Let's go home shall we?"</p><p>It became clear almost immediately that Blaise hadn't been exaggerating as they stepped out of a fireplace into an enormous orangery and were faced with a life-size sculpture of a shapely naked woman draped with vines and winding flowers in the centre of the room, her granite hand raised to the sky as if to shield her eyes from the sun. The theme of glass, plants and naked women ran through the entire mansion which was incredibly elegant and beautiful and every room was filled with a different scent from the flora that occupied it.</p><p>As Rosalind guided her into yet another luxurious lounge, the smell that hit her was intoxicating. She inhaled deeply and stared around the busily decorated room, every inch of wall covered with plants, paintings, mirrors and bookshelves, trying to seek out the source of the smell.</p><p>"It's jasmine." Rosalind purred, watching Cornelia with a faint smile, before floating to the darker side of the room and gently touching a flower with white pointed petals. "Do you like it?"</p><p>Cornelia advanced and nodded. "It smells beautiful."</p><p>Rosalind's eyes glittered and she looked very pleased. "How perfectly fitting for you, dear."</p><p>"What do you mean?"</p><p>Rosalind observed Cornelia, her eyes dancing with some unreadable emotion before she reached out and lifted Cornelia's chin in much the same way she held the jasmine flower. "One day I will tell you."</p><p>Something in her tone closed the conversation, much like Uncle Lucius did when discussing adult themes with the children, but when Rosalind did it, it felt entirely different. Cornelia believed that she would tell her when she was ready to hear it.</p><p>Rosalind turned and moved across the room to drape herself in a lilac chaise longue smattered with patterned plump cushions and quilted velvet throws, and Cornelia realised that Blaise had left them at some point after they had entered this room. She remained stood awkwardly by the jasmine flowers until Rosalind beckoned her over.</p><p>"Come talk with me darling, we have much to discuss."</p><p>Cornelia obeyed, gently lowering herself in a plump pastel pink armchair. "Where's Blaise?" She asked nervously.</p><p>"This is a very special room where only us women are allowed."</p><p>Cornelia's eyes raised in surprise. She had, of course, grown up with Uncle Lucius's study and smoking room being strictly male entry only, but Aunt Cissy had no such spaces where the men weren't allowed. She supposed it made perfect sense that Rosalind had created such a room for herself and her fellow women.</p><p>"It's one of the reasons it amuses me that you find the scent of this room the most attractive." Rosalind added, her eyes never leaving Cornelia. Cornelia giggled a little pathetically.</p><p>"I can't really believe I'm here." She said eventually after what seemed like a terribly awkward silence between them, although Rosalind seemed perfectly comfortable. Rosalind tilted her head as if to signal her to continue speaking. "It's just that I've never been to anyone else's house, only the Malfoy's and Hogwarts."</p><p>"They have held you prisoner." Rosalind's voice lowered slightly, a shadow of quiet fury just noticeable.</p><p>"I never thought about it that way before this year."</p><p>"Well think on it now." Rosalind's voice was commanding. "I may not be able to free you entirely but I intend to arm you with weapons to find your own freedom with."</p><p>"Like how to bargain with men?" Cornelia said with a little smile of her own.</p><p>"Precisely. There are many ways to manoeuvre a man, and one is not so different from the next. Once you know how, it is very simple."</p><p>"I want to learn."</p><p>Rosalind's eyes softened at that and she smiled again. "And you shall. Tell me, what do you think is the most important thing to consider when dealing with men?"</p><p>Cornelia thought for a moment but came up completely blank, she didn't really have much experience of 'dealing' with men. Instead she considered the ways she dealt with other students that crossed her, or Blaise, or Theodore, or Draco – she gathered information.</p><p>"To find their weaknesses?" She mumbled, nervous to be wrong, she was desperate to show Rosalind that she was as special as she made her feel. So it was to her dismay when Rosalind threw her head back and laughed; her laugh resembling a roar, thunderous and deep.</p><p>"Oh my darling girl!" Rosalind eventually gasped, wiping tears from her eyes which crinkled in Cornelia's direction. Cornelia felt like she was blushing from her toes to the top of her head, and she stared at the thick cream carpet at her feet. "Of course you are two steps ahead of where I expected you to be!" At this Cornelia's head snapped back up, her eyes hopeful, perhaps she hadn't said something ridiculous after all.</p><p>"What an oversight on my behalf, I must apologise." Rosalind continued, her voice still melodic with laughter. "You are so wonderfully right; to be truly certain of success you must know both the weaknesses and strengths of the man you deal with. I was merely going to suggest but one of the most common weaknesses."</p><p>"What's that?" Cornelia's voice had gained a little confidence.</p><p>"Beauty." The word rolled off Rosalind's tongue as if it tasted delicious and floated around the room. Cornelia took in Rosalind's long and willowy figure, dark shapely legs that glistened in the light, one crossed over the other, emerging from the deep slit in the billowing fabric of her skirt. Her collarbone and cleavage were enticing shadows below the delicate lace that ran in rivulets across her torso, wide shoulders, and toned arms, forming a deep v of almost transparent material down to her waist. Her braided hair hung loose and long around her, glistening with pearl beads, and her startlingly violet eyes were framed with thick dark lashes. She was the epitome of beauty.</p><p>Cornelia swallowed, her breath catching in her throat. Rosalind's beauty was a creature of its own, it was unattainable, impossible to touch. Before Rosalind, Cornelia had never even thought about beauty, but it was impossible to ignore when in her presence. She shrunk before it, painfully aware of her frizzy mane of hair, pointed face and lack of curves.</p><p>"I don't know much about that…"</p><p>"<em>No</em>." Rosalind interrupted her sharply, her eyes flashing and she seemed to grow, or the room seemed to shrink. Cornelia winced, her words felt like a slap. "I will not hear it, not in my house." She sounded genuinely furious and tears pricked Cornelia's eyes, the last thing she had wanted to do was to annoy her. "Insulting women is forbidden here, do you understand?"</p><p>Cornelia nodded quickly, trying to make herself as small as possible. Rosalind heaved a deep sigh and when she next spoke her voice was soft and lulling.</p><p>"I have another lesson for you Cornelia, and this one is very important. Do you want to hear it?"</p><p>"Yes please Rosalind." She said in a tiny voice, daring to glance up into Rosalind's eyes which were gentle and smiling again, although something like pain flashed through them at her words.</p><p>"You have experienced and will continue to experience cruelty at the hands of others, it will be the same way your entire life. But there is one person that you can turn to for comfort, one person who can protect you, who will be there for you when no one else can. It is you, darling, <em>you </em>are that person. Do not betray yourself, do not put yourself through unnecessary cruelty."</p><p>"O-okay." Cornelia responded timidly, but truthfully, it wouldn't be until much later when she would understand these words; at that moment she simply felt very small and would agree to almost anything Rosalind said.</p><p>Rosalind gracefully extended her arms, palms turned upwards towards Cornelia, her smile inviting. Cornelia scrabbled forward and her heart raced as she placed her cool fingers against Rosalind's warmth.</p><p>"You have beauty in abundance dear, and by this evening you shall see it for yourself." Rosalind said, flipping Cornelia's hand quickly and studying her palms and fingernails. "Disky!" She suddenly added loudly, and Cornelia was about to ask her what she meant when there was a loud crack and a tiny house elf appeared before them.</p><p>"Yes Madam?" She asked in a squeaky voice. Cornelia observed her with wide eyes, she was in much, much better shape than Dobby. She wore a sparkling clean, cream toga complete with golden bands, and her ears stood upright and alert on her head.</p><p>"A manicure and pedicure for Miss Lestrange, if you would be so kind."</p><p>"Of course, Madam." Disky curtseyed sweetly before disappearing with another crack.</p><p>"You don't have to do that!" Cornelia started to protest but Rosalind shook her words away with a wave of her hand and rose smoothly to her feet.</p><p>"Oh we must, and after that I will show you how to wash your hair…"</p><p>"I know how to wash my hair!" Cornelia was blushing again now.</p><p>"Your curls require special attention, my dear. In the meantime, please stand." She gestured for Cornelia to join her, and when she did a long fabric tape measurer unravelled from her hands. "Arms out to the side please."</p><p>Later that evening, Cornelia didn't feel like the same girl that had stepped nervously from the train just hours earlier. Her skin felt silky to touch with her beautifully manicured fingers, it shone in the same way as Rosalind's and she couldn't stop sniffing her arms – she smelt like jasmine and honey. Whatever elixir Rosalind had pointed out to her around the enormous bathtub she had bathed in earlier, had tamed her curls into tight ringlets that bounced softly around her face and gleamed in the light.</p><p>Rosalind disappeared whilst Cornelia had been tended to by Disky, returning with a long clothes bag, the contents of which Cornelia now wore. It was a beautifully soft, black velvet dress – strapless with a matching velvet choker that was the length of her neck. The dress was a perfect hourglass shape, cinching in at the waist and curving out at her hips to fall softly to the floor. Rosalind had gently tied her hair up so it piled on her head, leaving escaped tendrils to frame her face, and glossed her lips lightly in a rose shade.</p><p>Cornelia observed herself with wide eyes in the room made of mirrors that Rosalind had eventually led her into. She looked lovely, elegant and delicate, and yet her eyes held that same sharp glimmer in them that she often saw in Rosalind's.</p><p>"You look powerful." Rosalind had murmured, obviously very pleased with her creation, and Cornelia had to agree.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Rosalind and Cornelia are CURLY GIRLS! Yes, yes, Cornelia will be learning how to avoid sulfates and silicones and to scrunch product into her hair and how to avoid a hairbrush... but how much easier will it be with MAGIC to speed things up?</p><p>So... Rosalind? She's stolen the show again! I absolutely adore her, she just spills onto the page with such ease and elegance, she really takes the reigns with writing. And I hope you don't mind the makeover chapter (it's THAT K-drama episode) but I think this is something Rosalind has been itching to do since she first laid eyes on Cornelia.</p><p>Also, I have been finding enormous amounts of inspiration in my fashion pinterest board. I have outfits planned for Cornelia for years to come! I would love to post a link for the outfits she and Rosalind have been wearing so you can get a real image in your mind!<br/>Here is what Cornelia wore this evening: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/424534702381052669/<br/>And here is what Rosalind wore during that first meeting on Platform 9 3/4: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/424534702380822157/</p><p>And how cute is it that we've got the Christmas chapter being released at Christmas? It's almost like I planned it (I didn't)!</p><p>Anyways, I hope you enjoyed! Until next time.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. The Women's Society</h2></a>
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    <p>Cornelia hadn't seen Blaise since they had both arrived at his house a few hours earlier, she had been swept up into being bathed, polished and made up by Rosalind and hadn't really had a second thought about him during that time. So when the dinner bell sounded throughout the house, more melodic than the one at the Malfoy Manor, and Rosalind said "Perfect timing, I shall escort you to dinner, darling." Cornelia was suddenly filled with fluttering doubt. She wasn't sure about Blaise seeing her like this, it felt like something that was only suitable for hers and Rosalind's eyes.</p><p>"Shall I get changed?" She had asked and Rosalind had roared with laughter again.</p><p>"Of course not, this is the perfect occasion to premiere your new look." She gestured to Cornelia's dress.</p><p>"Don't you think I'm a bit overdressed for dinner?"</p><p>Rosalind raised an eyebrow at that. "Not at all, this is a dress for every occasion."</p><p>Cornelia didn't know what to say to that, but when her eyes slid back to the mirrored wall and she caught a glance of her reflection, some of her hesitation slipped away. She did look incredible, and yet when she was beside Rosalind, who would look twice at her?</p><p>She allowed Rosalind to lead her gently from the room and towards the wide winding staircase down to the entrance foyer below, but when she caught sight of a besuited Blaise waiting for them at the bottom, a blush started to creep up her neck and she diverted her eyes from him.</p><p>Rosalind, however, was watching Blaise intently. She saw his eyes widen when he looked at Cornelia, how he automatically stood a little more to attention, and how his eyes didn't leave her until they stood beside him. It pleased her.</p><p>"Good evening Mother, Cornelia." He said, as was tradition in this household, and Rosalind gently tipped her head at him, her eyes knowing on his.</p><p>"Good evening darling. What do you think to our dearest Cornelia's new outfit?"</p><p>"You look beautiful." Blaise said without missing a beat, and Cornelia nearly leapt out of her skin when he took her hand from her side and raised it gently to his lips. She snatched it away, glowering at him. She saw a ghost of his usual mocking laugh in his eyes, but for some reason he kept his face smooth and impassive – it unnerved her. Normally she would have told him to shut it and batted him away, but something about Rosalind's gaze told her that it would be inappropriate in that moment.</p><p>"Thank you." She forced herself to say instead and they continued through to the dining room.</p><p>Blaise continued to act bizarrely towards her throughout dinner, in-between his conversation with Rosalind, and Cornelia played along, pretending she enjoyed his compliments and held his gaze steadily when he stared at her; but she felt like ants were running up and down her arms, <em>below </em>the skin.</p><p>When they had finished eating Rosalind had excused herself, but before she left she had exchanged a meaningful look with Blaise. "Why don't you two play in the parlour?" She said before swooping from the room, leaving a trail scent of Ylang Ylang in her wake.</p><p>She had followed Blaise quietly to the parlour, but once he closed the doors behind him she ripped the velvet choker from her neck and chucked it at him. "What the hell are you playing at?!" She spat as Blaise caught the choker in one hand, her anger sparking his laughter in the usual way.</p><p>"I don't know what you mean!" He chuckled, but she knew that he knew exactly what she meant.</p><p>"Ohhh you look <em>so beautiful</em>!" Cornelia imitated him in a nasty voice and his laughter grew.</p><p>"You <em>do </em>look beautiful. Argh!" Blaise squealed as Cornelia launched herself towards him and took off running around one of the many coffee tables and squishy chairs that filled the room.</p><p>The chase that ensued was punctuated with Blaise's excited yelps and Cornelia's yells of "Creep!" and it burned away a little of the awkwardness that had rooted itself in Cornelia during dinner. They eventually flopped into separate chairs, flushed and severely out of breath.</p><p>"So, what do you think to your makeover?" Blaise asked and Cornelia huffed.</p><p>"I'm not sure. I like the dress but…"</p><p>"What?"</p><p>"It doesn't really feel like me." She finished after a pause as she tried to put her finger on exactly what felt off about the whole thing. It was true, the dress was elegant, dainty and beautiful, and none of those things related to how Cornelia felt. She had literally gotten a faceful of dirt just a few days ago for goodness sake!</p><p>"Well, you'd best get used to it." Blaise said, and Cornelia scowled at him.</p><p>"Why?"</p><p>"Because mother won't let you wear anything other than what she puts you in now." His eyes were watching her carefully.</p><p>"Don't be ridiculous." Cornelia smirked, half expecting Blaise to be joking.</p><p>"I'm serious, this is what she does."</p><p>"And what is <em>this</em>?"</p><p>Blaise sighed and shifted so he was sat straighter in his seat, wearily watching Cornelia's stormy face. "Did you know that mother runs a Women's Society?"</p><p>Cornelia shook her head, scowling deeply now. A sinister twisting had started in her stomach although she wasn't entirely sure why.</p><p>"Well there's some hundred muggle women in the society and mother handpicks them all. Most of them were living in abusive households before mother found them, and she brings them here to this sort of safe-house she's got across the field." For some reason Blaise didn't look happy or proud of Rosalind for her efforts in helping vulnerable women, rather his nose was wrinkled as if he had smelt something foul.</p><p>"What's so bad about that?" Cornelia asked.</p><p>"Well they're <em>muggles.</em>" Blaise said as if it were obvious. Cornelia quickly suppressed the shock that pulsated through her at Blaise's venomous tone; she had known he was a wizard purist, but she hadn't realised how deep his hatred ran for muggles in general. She clamped her mouth shut, her jaw clenching whilst Blaise continued. A lifetime with Lucius had trained her to keep her thoughts to herself on this matter.</p><p>"Anyway, mother always picks the pretty girls. She cleans them up, buys them fancy dresses, puts them through etiquette training… sound familiar?"</p><p>It did sound familiar and Cornelia didn't like it. Whilst, in contrast to Blaise, she admired Rosalind's charitable work with the muggle women, she didn't like the idea that the charitable work of the Women's Society stretched to involve her too. She didn't like the thought that actually she wasn't special at all, rather Rosalind had a habit of saving damsels in distress – and Cornelia didn't identify with being a damsel in distress; not in the slightest.</p><p>"So you're saying I'm like these muggle women? Just part of the Women's Society?" Cornelia's voice was sharp and Blaise frowned slightly, worried about aggravating her further when her voice took on that tone.</p><p>"No, that's not what I'm saying. Mother's never taken on a witch before, and you're from a well esteemed family too."</p><p>"So what's your point?"</p><p>"I'm getting to it! Mother takes on these women, does them up and plays with them like dolls and then they leave."</p><p>"Where do they go?"</p><p>"They get married."</p><p>The twisted feeling in Cornelia's stomach tightened a little at that, but she still didn't really understand what it meant. She wondered if she'd eaten something that disagreed with her. Blaise was looking at her in a way that suggested he had just disclosed a vital piece of information and it frustrated her. She didn't know what he was trying to say and it made her feel slow and stupid.</p><p>"Oh just spit it out will you?"</p><p>"They don't just randomly meet someone and fall in love Cornelia…" Blaise was speaking slowly now. "Mother arranges it all. She finds them a husband."</p><p>That was when the twisted sensation in Cornelia's stomach unravelled, swimming through her veins to every corner of her body as Blaise continued.</p><p>"It's like her job. She meets with these rich old men and they pay for a girl. The husbands' that mother takes for herself are generally the richest on the list. And wizards of course. She says it's like her bonus."</p><p>The world tilted slightly before her eyes and something clunked into place within her. Now she understood. Now everything made sense. Rosalind's out of the blue interest in her, the gifts, the dress, the advice – she wasn't interested in Cornelia, or even interested in 'rescuing' her; she was training her up to be Blaise's.</p><p>Blaise made a move as if to stand up and step towards her; she was clutching the arms of her chair and leant forward as if she were going to fall out of it. For a moment she thought she was going to. She thought she was going to faint or be sick or scream or something. But then it settled. The roaring of the blood in her ears died down to a faint hum and everything stilled in her mind. Blaise felt a prickle of fear when she turned eyes that stormed and raged in a perfectly controlled face to him.</p><p>"So, you think she wants us to be married?" She asked in a calm, terrifying voice.</p><p>Blaise's voice caught in his throat and all he could do was nod.</p><p>"Right." And she turned those dark eyes to the window. The room fell silent for a long while as Cornelia's mind worked, taking the well-worn paths she walked when faced with an obstacle; with an enemy.</p><p>Suddenly she turned back to him, and held out her hand, palm up. She looked tired now. "Give me back my neck-piece. I'm going to go to bed." She said, and Blaise obliged. She deftly pinned the velvet material around her neck, it felt suffocating to wear now, and stood up.</p><p>"Do you know where to go?" Blaise stood up with her.</p><p>"Yes. Goodnight Blaise." Her voice was strange, distant, and although she didn't show it, Blaise could see his words had taken a great toll on her.</p><p>"Goodnight Cornelia." Was all he could say, unable to voice the millions of questions that ran through his mind.</p><p>Of course, Blaise didn't understand how personally Cornelia would take his mother's plan; he hadn't read the letters they had been exchanging, he hadn't seen the seeds of distrust Rosalind had been planting in Cornelia's mind about the arranged marriages her family would be planning. He didn't know that Rosalind had lead Cornelia right out of one trap and into another. Whilst he had expected Cornelia to dislike the idea of what his mother had in store for them, he had no idea of the hurt that Cornelia battled with that night.</p><p>She didn't cry. She refused to shed a single tear, even though the betrayal cut hot and deep through her. If it had been anybody else perhaps it wouldn't have hurt so much, but Rosalind had been her guiding light these past few months; she had worshipped her. Rosalind had promised freedom and power, she had given her <em>hope</em>, made her believe that there was a way out of the path that was being carved for her by someone else's hand. But she had played her, played her in a game that she was so practised at that Cornelia hadn't suspected her at all. She didn't care about Cornelia at all, she wanted exactly what Uncle Lucius and Aunt Narcissa wanted - a pure-blood marriage with pure-blood babies, not to mention access to the Lestrange bank vault.</p><p>As usual, Cornelia's pain manifested itself through anger, coursing through her fiercely. She was sick of every single adult in her life, being knocked back and forth in the waves they formed for her, being twisted into the shape of their expectations. She felt every note of indoctrination sing inside her, and her hands formed claws – she wanted to scratch it all out – the manners, the posturing, the control. It had no place inside her anymore.</p><p>And yet, despite this rejection, some of Rosalind's lessons had stuck, sinking into already present natural tendencies of Cornelia's; and rather than giving in to the desire to run away from the Zabini house (and the Malfoy Manor if she could), Cornelia found herself mapping out ways to turn the situation on its head, to twist it to her advantage. Now that she wasn't bound by loyalty, what was it that Cornelia wanted from Rosalind? What could she take as payment for her pain?</p><p>There was also the part of Blaise to consider, she didn't think he would take too kindly to a plan to harm or damage his mother in any way, the strength of their bond was clear, and she had no urge to catch Blaise in the crossfire. No, whatever form of revenge she took it had to be undetectable, she had to play Rosalind at her own game and take what she wanted without her ever suspecting a thing.</p><p>Amongst the convoluted thoughts that pass through the busy mind at 4AM, Cornelia formed a plan. For now, she would take her payment physically, practically a cash transaction. She was sure that Rosalind saw the dresses that she was going to put Cornelia into as an investment, that the money spent would be returned tenfold when Cornelia belonged to Blaise, and by extension, to her. Cornelia would play her part and let her shower her with gifts to her hearts-desire, unbeknownst to Rosalind that she would be dressing Cornelia's body whilst her mind remained off limits. And if the time came when Rosalind expected results for her well spent money, she would be sorely disappointed; Cornelia had no intentions of marrying Blaise. Whilst she liked him very much and appreciated his friendship, the thought of being with him romantically disgusted her. She had seen Blaise's cruelty – it was part of him, built into his DNA, and whilst she could overlook that as his friend, as his wife…</p><p>It was with this mindset, her defensive walls up and sturdy, that Cornelia arose the next day. It was odd how little effect Rosalind's airs and graces had on her then, like a light switch had been flicked off, and whilst Cornelia could still see that she was fiercely beautiful, it didn't dazzle her and blind her senses like before.</p><p>Now Rosalind's casual use of 'my dear' or 'my darling' irritated Cornelia, it was as if Rosalind believed she already owned her. She silently fumed at her audacity as they ate breakfast together, but her smile was bright and she answered Rosalind with warmth and enthusiasm.</p><p>Rosalind was pleasantly surprised by the change in Cornelia. Whilst she looked tired, the dark shadows under her eyes betraying her poor night's sleep, she was less timid than the day before, much more responsive. Much more interesting.</p><p>Blaise was also surprised by Cornelia's behaviour. It was as if their conversation the night before had never happened, and he had to remind himself of the expression on her face before she had gone to bed because there was not a single trace of it now. She answered his compliments with ones of her own, smiling often and giggling in a very weird girly way that he had never heard from Cornelia before. Something wasn't right.</p><p>He cornered her when they were next alone, which was at lunch, when Rosalind whisked away to attend to 'business' as soon as she had finished eating.</p><p>"Are you going to tell me what's going on?" He asked, frowning across the table at her. He noticed that the way that she held herself had changed the moment his mother had left the room, she now slumped forward, elbow on the table and head lolling sideways onto her fist. She played with her food with her fork, her previously happy expression becoming sulky.</p><p>She fixed him with a dead eyed stare before raising an eyebrow and saying in a voice heavy with sarcasm. "I don't know what you're talking about."</p><p>Blaise did a pretty good impression of her high-pitched girlish laughter before returning her flat expression. A smirk curled on Cornelia's lips and she lowered her eyes back down to the food she was kicking around her plate with a fork. "Is it a crime to laugh now?" She said slowly.</p><p>"You're up to something." Blaise said, watching her with narrowed eyes. She laughed again, this time in her normal voice, almost a cackle.</p><p>"Aren't you?"</p><p>Blaise frowned. "What do you mean?"</p><p>"Saying nice things and looking at me all the time – it makes me sick!" Cornelia could see that she had struck a nerve in Blaise, something that happened very rarely, as his jaw clenched and he leant away from the table, crossing his arms across his chest.</p><p>"Oh yeah? Then why do you go all gaga whenever I do it?"</p><p>"Ha!" Cornelia threw back her head and let out a nasty bark of laughter. "Oh trust me, that's all acting."</p><p>"Well that makes two of us then."</p><p>They glared at each other across the table for a moment and Cornelia realised that Blaise had the same coloured violet eyes as Rosalind, just a couple of shades darker. She shook her head and returned her attention back to her plate, looking entirely fed up and bored. She did not want to discuss with Blaise how affected she was by the news he had told her last night; in fact she didn't want to discuss it with anyone, she would take the information to her grave and in the meantime would never let anybody manipulate her again.</p><p>The rest of the Christmas break passed awkwardly. Cornelia and Blaise continued in their bizarre game of charades – in front of Rosalind they were sickeningly sweet (although Cornelia mainly just followed Blaise's lead, who seemed practised in acting like a loved-up teenager), whilst in private they returned to their usual behaviour. Something had changed between them however, and when they were alone there was a wall between them that had never existed before, a stilted end to conversations, keeping each other at an arms distance. It was depressing.</p><p>As predicted, Rosalind continued to shower Cornelia with new outfits for every evening, each one a little more extravagant than the last. Cornelia wasn't pretending when she examined each dress with wonder (because they were always dresses; beautiful laced, satin, silk, velvet, embroidered dresses), and even began to feel more comfortable in their embrace. She allowed Rosalind to style her hair, teach her the basics of makeup, spritz her with perfumes and bejewel her ears, neck and fingers. She did it all with a delighted smile, chattering away happily with Rosalind whilst looking at her with adoring eyes – it was exhausting.</p><p>When she was alone in her bedroom with the windowed roof dripping with vines, she would carefully remove the gowns, clean her face and take down her hair, and then proceed to scowl at herself in the mirror, muttering all the things she disliked about Rosalind and being at the Zabini house like some kind of affirmation. It was too easy to forget in the face of Rosalind's charm otherwise, and Cornelia carried her rage inside her like a protective totem.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I know Rosalind was a few people's favourite character (mine too) and someone commented on how she was the adult presence that Cornelia needed in her life so I'm not sure how much you'll have enjoyed this character! As it turns out, Rosalind doesn't reserve her master manipulation skills to just the men in her life...</p><p>Until next time.</p>
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<a name="section0015"><h2>15. A Bonfire</h2></a>
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    <p>Finally, the time came for Cornelia and Blaise to return to Hogwarts, and Rosalind taught Cornelia spells for making her trunk expansive inside and light to carry, which came in handy as she was going back with twice as many clothes as she had left with. Cornelia struggled to keep up her façade with Blaise that morning, she was itching to get on the train back to the castle and the thought that she would soon see Draco was like a thorn in her side. It made the pretence she kept up with Blaise all that more uncomfortable, the atmosphere feeling more and more unnatural.</p><p>Rosalind's gaze that had before felt like a warm ray of sunlight now felt like a security floodlight, a constant reminder of her all-seeing presence. It was unbelievable how much she resembled Uncle Lucius and Aunt Cissy now; if someone would have suggested this would be the case to her a mere week ago, she would have thought they were insane.</p><p>On the journey to the castle, Cornelia and Blaise barely exchanged a handful of words, both reading quietly and only chatting briefly when the lunch trolley arrived. To be quite honest, Cornelia couldn't wait to have some space from Blaise and if she wasn't mistaken, she thought he may feel the same way. They had been in each other's pocket's all holiday, and half of that time together had been spent behaving in a way towards each other that didn't feel like their choosing. Cornelia found herself resenting Blaise's presence as it meant that she had to act in a way that very far removed from her normal behaviour, but the strange thing was that neither of them had discussed <em>why </em>they had to act that way. Other than their conversation where Blaise had revealed Rosalind's motives and their half argument the next day, it was like an unspoken rule had been formed that neither of them would discuss the performance they put on in Rosalind's presence. It felt awkward and altogether too private to put into straight words, plus the answer was one all too large and twisted for either of them to really process at such a young age. All they knew was that it was the expected behaviour, and upsetting Rosalind just wasn't an option.</p><p>It took all of Cornelia's self-control not to run to the common room once they got out of the carriages that took them from the train station to the castle grounds, but once she was through the doors and greeted by the sight of Draco stood a few feet from the entrance to the common room and anxiously watching the stream of students returning, she couldn't contain herself for any longer. Beaming, she ran to him and threw herself into his arms that were already stretched wide for her. They hugged tightly, and the tension of the past week seemed to travel through her shoulders and slip off her spine, her body relaxing for what felt like the first time since she left. She was overcome with the sensation of arriving home, and it was all wrapped up in the castle walls and Draco himself. It was the longest they had ever been apart.</p><p>"Hello!" Draco was chuckling into her hair and Cornelia returned his greeting with a breathy "Hi!" of her own before pulling away and beaming up into his face.</p><p>"You look different. Did you do something to your hair?" Draco's hands remained on her shoulders as he observed her, and Cornelia was just happy to be with him again.</p><p>"Mrs Zabini gave me some curling tonic." She shrugged, the last thing she wanted to talk about right now was Rosalind.</p><p>"It's nice." His hand absentmindedly wandered to her long curls, before he suddenly snapped it back and stepped away from her as if he had been burnt. "So how was Christmas at the Zabini house anyway?" His voice was a lot harder than before and Cornelia was confused by the whiplash of emotions.</p><p>She glanced over her shoulder, but Blaise was nowhere to be seen. "A bit weird, I'm glad to be back."</p><p>Draco's face brightened at these words, and his wide smile returned. "Did you see any dead husbands?"</p><p>Cornelia swatted at his shoulder. "Don't be silly. It was just a bit awkward."</p><p>"Did Blaise hit on you?" Something flashed in Draco's eyes, even though his grin remained, but when Cornelia didn't answer straight away it slowly faded from his face. "Did he?!" He pressed and Cornelia quickly shook her head.</p><p>"No, nothing like that. Just didn't have much to talk about." But she could see that Draco knew she wasn't telling him something. She was relieved when he dropped it and moved on to the subject of Christmas presents.</p><p>The evening passed pleasantly, and Cornelia buried her memories of her time spent at the Zabini house beneath the comfort she felt chatting and being with Draco. When she was alone later that evening, her mind automatically roamed back to Rosalind, and the Christmas break felt even more surreal now she was back in the safety of the castle walls and in her own bed.</p><p>The next day she noticed that Draco watched carefully when Blaise and Theodore returned to Cornelia's side, although there wasn't anything to see as her and Blaise still had very little to say to each other. Theodore picked up on the atmosphere, but never one to pry, resorted to watching them whilst carefully providing the conversation.</p><p>Something else had changed in Cornelia since her return from the Zabini household that became apparent over the next couple of weeks. At first it was subtle, a drifting of attention during classes, a tired slouch in her shoulders. Soon after this, the drifting of attention became a, more often than not, complete disregard for the lesson and the people within it.</p><p>It became obvious firstly during Defence Against the Dark Arts classes, where Cornelia held the least respect for the professor, Gilderoy Lockhart. She would doodle absently in the pages of her notebook, not even attempting to look interested in the lesson, and even laying her head down on her arms and closing her eyes during a couple of them. When Professor Lockhart commented on one of these occasions where Cornelia chose the class as a time to catch up on sleep, her reaction was unexpected and alarming.</p><p>"Now, now, Miss Lestrange, whilst I admire your dedication to your beauty sleep, this isn't the time to be dozing off!" Lockhart had called in his cheery voice and winning smile from his desk at the front of the room. His confidence seemed to have returned over the Christmas break.</p><p>Cornelia, who hadn't really been asleep, sat up with a loud, exaggerated yawn before replying in a clear and carrying voice "You're just so boring, sir."</p><p>Shock rippled through the room with more than a scattering of smothered laughter, Draco included, whilst Theodore's eyes bulged at her.</p><p>Lockhart looked taken aback for just a moment before his smile returned, and he forced a laugh. "Ha ha! I think you may find you're quite alone with that opinion!"</p><p>"I think <em>you</em> may find that you're quite delusional, sir." Cornelia shot back without missing a beat, her voice and face completely deadpan.</p><p>Even Lockhart couldn't immediately recover from the hilarity that followed her words, and he looked quite ruffled, his eyes shifting nervously around the room.</p><p>"Ah, careful Miss Lestrange, if you continue I may have to put you in detention." He warned but Cornelia looked like she was enjoying herself now.</p><p>"Alright, keep your wig on, sir!"</p><p>Lockhart went quite red as shocked "ooooh"'s echoed around the room and everyone in the class turned to watch his reaction.</p><p>"Right. Right. Well, that'll be a detention this evening in my office!" He said shrilly before shushing the rest of the class and stammering in his return to reading from one of his autobiographical novels.</p><p>Immediately after the lesson Draco had praised her show heavily, along with several other students, whilst Theodore made no mention but simply kept a closer eye on her. However, after a month or so, even Draco was concerned at the drastic change in Cornelia's behaviour.</p><p>Her outbursts were no longer contained to DADA classes, which had immediately become a regular occurrence, to the point where she had been told to leave the classroom and not to come back until she could be respectful. She hadn't returned. Miraculously, Professor Lockhart didn't inform Professor Dumbledore about Cornelia's absence; Cornelia suspected is was because it would be too much of a blow to his pride to admit a student willingly skipped his classes.</p><p>Where she had previously been studious and well behaved, she was at best negligent and at worst disruptive, and Draco and Theodore weren't alone in noticing the difference.</p><p>It would have been easier to bring up if Cornelia wasn't so normal outside of the classes. It was as if she hadn't recognised a difference in her behaviour at all and she was just the same as she had always been with the boys, if anything she seemed happier, quicker to laugh, not as sensitive. Only Theodore noted that there was a slightly manic edge to her laughter or in the quick way she spoke.</p><p>Still, it wasn't Theodore who was the first to address the change in Cornelia, nor was it Draco… it was Professor Snape.</p><p>They had all been packing up after their final lesson of the day, Potions, when Snape had drifted over to Cornelia, Blaise and Theodore's table in that silent way of his and towered above them all, his beady eyes focused on Cornelia.</p><p>"A word please, Lestrange." He had said before sweeping back to his desk at the front of the room.</p><p>Cornelia had exchanged wide eyed glances with the boys as they left the room slowly along with the rest of the students. She was running over the lesson in her head, but was struggling to come up with any memorable moments at all, never mind anything she may have done wrong, and found herself a little surprised at how the entire lesson had blurred into a monotonous drone in her mind. She was still struggling to pinpoint what exactly they had been covering during the lesson as she made her way up to Snape who was watching her with his usual unreadable expression.</p><p>"Is everything okay, Professor?" She asked politely, her heart speeding up slightly.</p><p>"I could ask you the same question. Take a seat."</p><p>Confused, Cornelia pulled out the hard wooden chair before his desk and perched on the edge. Dull silence filled the dark room for a few moments before Snape spoke again.</p><p>"Well, Lestrange? I asked you if anything was wrong."</p><p>Cornelia jolted and she stumbled around for her words. "Y-yes, I mean no Sir. Nothing's wrong."</p><p>Snape considered her for a few more moments. "Whilst your performance in my class has never been excellent, it has never been a cause for concern, not until recently. As your Head of House I am required to find out why you aren't working to your usual standard." He said in a slow drawling voice. Another silence followed where Cornelia didn't know what to say, so she said nothing at all. "As it turns out, it is not just I that has noticed this change in you. I have been approached by several other members of staff, some of whom have reported some <em>disturbing </em>accounts of your behaviour within their classrooms."</p><p>Cornelia fought the urge to fidget as a wave of understanding washed over her. The rage that she had carried like a torch within her at the Zabini house hadn't blown out like she had expected when she arrived back at Hogwarts. Every day brought a new reminder of Rosalind, Aunt Cissy or Uncle Lucius, keeping it aflame. Professor's orders sounded more and more like the demands her family and trusted adult figures in her life had constantly inflicted her with. Her unquestioning obedience a stark reminder of how much of their expectations she had swallowed and internalised. It all piled up in the pit of her stomach, like piles of broken furniture and logs in preparation for a bonfire.</p><p>Sometimes, like when she was faced with the patronising idiot Professor Lockhart, a spark was lit in that bonfire, and she almost couldn't control what came out of her mouth when that happened. It surprised her as much as anyone else, but it also pleased her. It was worth the increase in detentions from the response she saw in their faces in the moment she snapped – their authority challenged – a tough pill to swallow.</p><p>Part of her had wondered how far she could push it, how much she could get away with, how much chaos and disruption could she actually be responsible for? It was a question she had never been allowed to ask herself before, never been able to test the boundaries of her Aunt and Uncle where other children tested their own caretakers.</p><p>She had been surprised when no one brought it up (and perhaps a little disappointed), not her friends nor the Professor's themselves, and very quickly she forgot that testing boundaries had been one of her main motivations at all; she just enjoyed the thrill of acting out.</p><p>Of course most of this reasoning had taken place during a long period of complex and abstract thought processing, it wasn't as black and white in Cornelia's mind. In fact, it was quite the opposite, it was all muddied up in a chaotic angry mess. To Cornelia, she was simply living her life reacting to one stimulus to the next, giving herself over entirely to what her body told her felt good in that moment – anything to relieve some of the constant resentment that she harboured inside her. She had no idea how to express this to Snape. She was angry. She was <em>just angry.</em></p><p>The silence stretched and she could see Snape getting more frustrated at her lack of response by the darkening of his eyes. "I will make this simple for you, Lestrange. Why haven't you been completing your homework for any of your classes?"</p><p>"I – I don't know, sir." She said lamely, looking at the floor as her face glowed.</p><p>"You don't know?" Snape repeated in his slow fashion. Once again Cornelia didn't respond. "Has something happened at home, with your family?" Some of his frustration was leaking into his voice now.</p><p>"No sir."</p><p>"With your friends?"</p><p>"No."</p><p>Snape let out a long sigh. "I'm not about to partake in a guessing game with you, Lestrange, so know this. If I hear of you missing one more piece of homework that has been assigned to you this year, I will be taking you to the headmaster and asking for your suspension myself. Is that clear?"</p><p>Cornelia's eyes widened and her heart thrummed loudly in her ears. Suspended from Hogwarts? Sent back to the Malfoy Manor in shame? She physically shuddered at the thought of the fate she would meet there, the beatings she would get from Lucius. She remembered the jealousy and upset she experienced when Draco had been allowed to attend magical theory lessons when she wasn't and imagined how much more intense that would feel as Draco attended Hogwarts when she couldn't.</p><p>She was so wrapped up in what the consequences of a suspension or expulsion from Hogwarts could mean that she completely forgot where she was, or that Professor Snape was there in front of her at all. That was until his hand slammed loudly into the desk between them, the thud echoing around the chamber. She jumped out of her skin and cringed away from the noise and his hand; Snape saw the fear on her face and almost, <em>almost, </em>regretted his action.</p><p>"I asked you if that was clear! Answer me girl!" He hissed, his eyes narrow and furious.</p><p>"Y-yes sir, I will make sure I do all of my homework from now on." She stammered quickly, trying to get the racing of her heart under control without showing her shock on her face. She wasn't very successful.</p><p>The silence descended one more time as Snape observed her thoughtfully, his black eyes piercing her dark brown ones, and for a moment she thought that he saw everything with those eyes.</p><p>"You may leave." He said eventually, and Cornelia swept quickly from the room, holding her breath all the while. She wasn't entirely surprised to find Draco waiting for her in the dungeon corridors outside, but she was surprised to find Theodore with him, the two of them had only ever probably exchanged a handful of words. Draco thought that Theodore was "creepy" and although he never said it, Cornelia had pretty much gathered that Theodore thought Draco was a bit of an idiot.</p><p>"What was that all about?" Draco asked as soon as she closed the classroom door behind her and they set off down the corridor together.</p><p>"He was telling me to keep up with my homework." Cornelia said a little bashfully, still very flustered from the ultimatum Snape had given her.</p><p>"You've not been doing your potions homework?" Draco asked in a disbelieving voice, nobody dared to skip Snape's assignments.</p><p>"Obviously." She snapped.</p><p>"She's not been doing any of her homework." Theodore said in a tone that was quiet even by his standards. Cornelia shot him a dark look; the traitor was selling her out! He didn't catch it though, and Cornelia was once again surprised to see Draco and Theodore exchanging worried glances.</p><p>"Why Nelly?" Draco asked and the constant simmer of anger inside her spat a little at his concerned tone. It wasn't any of their business why she wasn't doing any of her homework!</p><p>"Because I don't want to? What's it to you?"</p><p>Draco paused before continuing, and Cornelia could sense that he was trying to step very gently around her. "It's not just homework… you've been acting really different in class for ages. You haven't been to Defence for nearly 3 weeks!"</p><p>"So what?" She snarled; she really wasn't in the mood for a second intervention right now.</p><p>"We're just worried about you Cornelia." Theodore's meek voice rang out and Cornelia sighed heavily.</p><p>"There's nothing to worry about though, I'm fine!"</p><p>"You've not been yourself, you've always really enjoyed school." Draco added and whatever little restraint Cornelia possessed snapped. She spun on her heel to face them, throwing her arms in the air and letting out a loud, annoyed shriek.</p><p>"Can you both just leave it?! I said I'm fine! How would you like it if I started sticking my nose where it doesn't belong and telling you how you should act?"</p><p>Draco and Theodore exchanged yet another look and it did nothing but enrage Cornelia further.</p><p>"We're not telling you how to act-"</p><p>"SHUT UP THEODORE!" Cornelia's scream echoed through the corridor, bouncing off the hard walls and ground that surrounded them and leaving heavy silence in it's wake. She had never yelled at Theodore before, and he flinched like she had physically hit him. As he stared at her with wide, hurt eyes, hot shame flooded through Cornelia and she shrunk back.</p><p>"Nelly…" Draco began to speak, but Cornelia cut him off before he could continue. She didn't want his sympathy or pity.</p><p>"Just leave me alone." She spat before turning and running ahead of them to the common room.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>What is it? Angst, angst, angst. Teenage Cornelia is fun! Of course it's more than just teen hormones but they're definitely fun to write into the equation. I (and a lot of other HP readers) have realised as I've gotten older and studied a bit of psychology that Harry is ridiculously unaffected by his abusive upbringing. The moodiest we ever see him is in Order of the Pheonix when technically that boi should have bucketloads of behavioural issues. Locked under the stairs for the majority of your childhood? No problem. Perpetually bullied by your caregivers and cousin and not a single friend? All good. Attempted murder on your life every teenage year? Perfect moral compass. Oh and let's not forget that he literally had a soul fragment of one of the most evil human beings on earth locked up in his forehead!</p><p>Not on Cornelia's watch. She miiiiight be quite difficult to like over the next few chapters.</p><p>But... Prisoner of Azkaban is fast approaching baby! Once again the story speeds up significantly after christmas break because Cornelia has no involvement with the golden trio's adventures (as of yet ;) ), hope ya don't mind! Chamber of Secrets is actually my least favourite book/film and I've really enjoyed writing this so I wonder how much I'm going to enjoy the years to come!</p><p>By the way, I've had a little surge in people writing reviews and it makes me so so happy. Thank you to everyone that takes the time to write words of encouragement or how much you're enjoying the story/characters, it honestly makes all the difference to my motivation to write. Thank you, thank you, I'm so pleased you're enjoying the story!</p><p>Until next time.</p>
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<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Can We Talk?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Cornelia's argument with Theodore and Draco lasted for much longer than she would have liked, and she spent the entire week following it in misery. Neither Theodore nor Draco approached her, and she was far too prideful to approach them. Even Blaise kept his distance, although it had been that way since returning from their Christmas together.</p><p>What was worse was that Cornelia knew she couldn't vent her hurt feelings through acting out in class, not after her discussion with Snape. Instead, she kept her head down, but nothing the professor's said ever sunk in. She even caught up with all of her homework, and she was secretly startled to find that she quite often had no idea how to complete the task that had been set. She didn't like feeling out of her depth, but weeks of paying very little to no attention had taken its toll – not that it made any difference to her behaviour. If anything, the poor grades she got back on her homework only encouraged her to disassociate further in class.</p><p>It wasn't until the weekend rolled around did something happen that forced Cornelia to put aside her ego and approach her friends again. The castle had been growing steadily less terrorized after the attacks before Christmas, and the majority of the school was looking forward to blowing off some steam at a quidditch match that Saturday. Cornelia was amongst the rest of the students that thronged towards the quidditch pitch, although she made sure to remain a good distance away from Blaise, Theodore and Draco. She had felt so lonely that the thought of staying in the empty school made her want to pull her hair out, plus the thrill of screaming alongside the hundreds of other students had a special appeal to her right then.</p><p>She had barely taken her seat (well behind the rest of the boys) when Professor Mcgonagall's voice rang loud and fearful across the grounds. "This quidditch match is cancelled, all students will return to their common rooms immediately!"</p><p>The swell of voices that followed was extremely disorientating, at first the main sound was of fierce disappointment, but then the murmurs of another attack crept into the loud complaints around her and there was suddenly a huge rush towards the exit. Crushed amongst the stampeding students, Cornelia fought to make her way towards Draco and the others, their previous disagreement completely forgotten in the face of another attack and potential death. She didn't get far before she was met with Draco, who seemed to have had the same thought as her and was struggling against the tide in her direction too.</p><p>When their eyes met it was clear all was forgiven and they held onto each other as they were swept along with the other students. Cornelia peered over his shoulder, but she couldn't see the others anywhere.</p><p>"Where's Theodore and Blaise?" She shouted above the noise and Draco shook his head.</p><p>"I think they already left." He yelled back.</p><p>When they burst onto the grounds beneath the podium, Cornelia was incredibly relieved so see Blaise and Theodore stood just apart from the crowd, peering towards the exit they had just come through. She rushed towards them, still pulling Draco by the sleeve, and without a second thought threw her arms around Theodore's small frame. He was much skinnier than she'd have thought, and his bony shoulders and ribs dug into her as she crushed him against her.</p><p>"I'm sorry." She gasped, pulling away as her mind caught up with her body and she realised that Theodore had gone rigid and still in her arms.</p><p>"It's okay." He muttered, shock plain in his face as he took a step back from her.</p><p>"No, I'm really sorry Theodore. I should never have shouted at you like that." She was gushing now, the adrenaline from the race out of the quidditch pitch and the panic of the students around them catching up with her.</p><p>A small smile broke through Theodore's flustered expression at being unexpectedly grabbed. "It's okay, I know you've not been yourself since Christmas."</p><p>His words jolted something in Cornelia's stomach and her jaw clenched. She gave a small nod and suffocated the annoyance that has risen in her, her eyes shifting to Blaise who stood moodily by Theodore's side. His brow had furrowed at Theodore's words, and he was looking at her thoughtfully; she knew he must have been putting two and two together. When his eyes met hers however, he raised an eyebrow.</p><p>"Aren't I going to get a hug?" He teased in a low voice – it was the first time he had attempted light humour with Cornelia since Christmas, and she realised with a rush that she had missed him enormously in that time.</p><p>"Definitely not." She replied, but a grin spread mischievously across her face and he returned it eagerly.</p><p>Somehow, amidst the chaos surrounding them and the threat of another attack, Cornelia felt like she had found peace for the first time in months.</p><p>The rumours had turned out to be true, another attack had certainly taken place in the castle whilst most of the school had been out in the grounds that day. Hermione Granger, Harry Potter's best friend, and Penelope Clearwater had been petrified, and Draco was beside himself with glee when Snape delivered the news emotionlessly to the full common room that afternoon.</p><p>Most of the Slytherins were unaffected by the report of another attack. They were mainly irritated that their movements around the castle were being monitored and limited considerably, although there was a handful of them that didn't feel as safe in their half-blood status as the others. It was easy to spot who; Tracey, one of the girls Cornelia shared a dormitory with, was amongst them. Their faces were pale, eyes fearful, and they were withdrawn from the rest of the students, retiring early or lingering in quiet corners of the common room.</p><p>It seemed Draco wasn't alone in his pleasure with the Heir of Slytherin's movements. The attack had triggered less of a debate and more discussion of support around 'cleansing' the school of mud-bloods in the other Slytherin students. There were bets being taken on who would be next, or the first to actually be killed by whatever creature was responsible for the attacks. The room was filled with gloating about whose families the Heir of Slytherin was likely to choose as a loyal follower, and Draco was one of the loudest in the room.</p><p>As he spouted nonsense to a large group about how his father had been the Dark Lord's favourite supporter, Blaise nudged Cornelia's arm. "Can we talk?"</p><p>Cornelia, who was already tense from listening to Draco making a fool of himself (although everyone seemed to be clinging onto his last word), gritted her teeth. "Go ahead."</p><p>"Let's go somewhere else." He murmured.</p><p>"Where? We're not allowed out of the common room." Cornelia was stalling, she knew exactly what Blaise wanted to talk about and she really, really wished he wouldn't.</p><p>Blaise glanced around the room, scouting out for someone or something. "Nobody's in the dorm. Come on."</p><p>Sighing, she stood with Blaise, murmuring to Theodore that they would be back in a second, and followed him stiffly from the room. She didn't notice Draco look up from his intense monologue, his eyes following them across the common room, nor did she notice Pansy do the same thing.</p><p>When they entered the room, Blaise flicked his wand and muttered a charm. The mess that seemed a permanent occupant of the dormitory smoothly rose into the air and formed a neat pile in the corner of the room.</p><p>"Why don't you just do that every day?" Cornelia asked, snappy in her worry. Blaise shrugged.</p><p>"Not my mess." He was right, the bed that he lead them to was the only made bed in the room, his bedside table tidy. When he sat himself down on the end of it, Cornelia remained stood awkwardly in front of him, her arms crossed across her chest.</p><p>"So what's up?" She asked breezily.</p><p>"Mother's been asking after you." He was smirking at her, and she could see his cat like eyes were watching her every reaction carefully, still, she couldn't stop herself from flinching at his words.</p><p>"Oh really?" Cornelia attempted to sound nonchalant but she wasn't sure if she was achieving it. Judging by the sly look on Blaise's face she doubted it.</p><p>"Apparently you've not been replying to her letters. She's worried something's happened."</p><p>"Nothing's happened. It just slipped my mind." Rather it had been forcefully shoved from her mind. Rosalind had sent Cornelia 2 letters in the past month along with gifts, and though Cornelia knew that she should reply as if nothing was wrong to keep up with her plan, she just couldn't bring herself to put quill to parchment.</p><p>"That's fine. She wanted me to remind you that she still has a lot to teach you." There was a question in his voice and Cornelia stared stubbornly at the post of his bed just next to his head, not replying. After a moment or two, Blaise shuffled to the side a little. "Sit down will you? You're making me nervous."</p><p>The thought of sitting beside Blaise on his bed made Cornelia nervous, but she did it anyway, telling herself not to be ridiculous. As she sat and stared at her hands Blaise sighed and shifted to curl his legs up on the bed and to face her. "What's going on Cornelia? You've barely spoken to me for months and you've not replied to Mother? I thought you loved her."</p><p>Rage flashed through Cornelia, hot and red, and she winced with the ferocity of it. "Yeah I did." Her voice was strangled with it.</p><p>"Until I told you what she was planning." He concluded for her and she hesitated a moment before nodding stiffly once.</p><p>"You do know that it's pretty normal for pure-blood's to arrange their kid's weddings don't you?"</p><p>Cornelia couldn't help but let out a sharp and ironic bark of laughter at that. "Oh yeah, it was your mother that made me aware actually." Her voice was dripping with bitterness. Blaise frowned in confusion.</p><p>"So she told you that she wanted us to be married?"</p><p>Finally Cornelia met his eyes and Blaise blinked in surprise at the fury that sparked in them. "No. She warned me against arranged marriages."</p><p>A thick silence fell between them and Cornelia could see Blaise struggling to understand what she was saying. Finally he shook his head as if to clear it and met her eyes again. "Why would she do that?"</p><p>Cornelia sighed heavily and turned sharply away from Blaise. "It doesn't matter, you don't understand." Her voice was hard.</p><p>"Can't you help me to?"</p><p>"No. I don't want to talk about it."</p><p>Silence again. Now it was Blaise trying to keep control of his temper – luckily he was much more practised at it than Cornelia.</p><p>"It doesn't matter anyway, because Mother always gets what she wants someway or another."</p><p>"And what about what I want?!" Cornelia's voice was rising now.</p><p>"You don't want to marry me." It wasn't a question and it held none of Blaise's usual humour. Cornelia spun to face him again, her eyes wide and wild.</p><p>"Do you really want to marry <em>me</em>?"</p><p>Blaise held her gaze for what felt like a long time, and then, without warning, his face broke into a wide grin. "Absolutely not."</p><p>It was so ridiculous, such a bizarre conversation to be having with one of her best friends at 13 years old, that after a few seconds of gaping at Blaise's face, laughter bubbled up through her throat and burst forth in an uncontrollable torrent. Blaise wasn't far behind her, and his infectious laughter soon joined hers, loud and carefree.</p><p>That was until the door of the dormitory slammed, cutting through their laughter like a knife.</p><p>"What are you doing in here?" Draco's voice was cold and furious.</p><p>Cornelia shot up from the bed like it was on fire and spun to face Draco, Blaise peering mulishly around her.</p><p>"Draco! We were just chatting."</p><p>"Why can't you <em>chat </em>in the common room like everyone else?" He snarled, his face blotching like it always did when he was particularly upset.</p><p>"It was private." Blaise said from behind Cornelia, and Cornelia held her breath. Blaise knew exactly what to say to push Draco's buttons – he liked doing it.</p><p>"Private?! What do you two have to talk about that's so private?!"</p><p>"Well that's thing about privacy…" Began Blaise but Cornelia quickly cut him off before he could do any more damage.</p><p>"Blaise's mother is sick, we were just talking about how serious it is." She could feel Blaise's eyes boring into her back but she ignored them, knowing he would go along with whatever she said.</p><p>"…Apparently you tell the first person who asks." Blaise finished his previous sentence, but Cornelia could hear the smirk in his voice.</p><p>Draco looked as if he were doing some very quick and serious calculations on whether to believe her excuse or not. After glaring at them for a while his shoulders visibly relaxed and he seemed to deflate like a balloon.</p><p>"Oh. Sorry." He said, but he didn't sound very sorry.</p><p>"Was something wrong?" Cornelia walked towards him now that she was sure he wasn't going to explode.</p><p>"Yeah, you missed it. Dobby just showed up."</p><p>"What? In the common room?"</p><p>"He gave me this. It's from father." He held out his hand which held a rolled up piece of parchment. Cornelia took it from him and quickly scanned the contents. Her mouth fell open with an audible pop by the time she had reached the end.</p><p>"He's got Dumbledore sacked?!" She exclaimed, and Blaise was soon beside her reaching for the letter. Cornelia handed it to him, and Draco watched them with wrinkled nose.</p><p>"Finally. Can't believe the old sod has lasted this long with everything going on." Draco said in his nastiest voice.</p><p>She couldn't say that she didn't agree with him. She had asked herself multiple times that year just how sane Dumbledore was, and many of the students were wondering why there hadn't been any media backlash on the Headmaster after the attacks from the Heir of Slytherin. Still, the blatantly boastful tone of the letter set Cornelia's teeth on edge. Lucius had gotten exactly what he wanted <em>again</em>.</p><p>"<em>Used my influence to ensure the silence of the board</em> – what does that mean?" Blaise asked.</p><p>"Meaning he's bribed or blackmailed the school board into agreeing with it probably." Cornelia muttered and Blaise let out a low, impressed whistle as he handed to letter back to a sour Draco.</p><p>"I wonder who'll take his place." Blaise said and Draco shrugged, putting the letter back in his robes.</p><p>"Who cares? As long as it's not Dumbledore."</p><p>Cornelia wasn't even sure if Draco knew why he was so against Dumbledore in the first place – did he have any of his own opinions or were they just echoes of his father's?</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Apologies that this chapter is a day late! I've really struggled with feeling connected to it and have had to edit it quite a bit, hopefully it reads well. It's quite a conversation heavy chapter and I have been umming and ahhing about whether to delete it completely and move on with the events of COS a little more, but I think the conversation between Cornelia and Blaise was quite sweet and highlights where they both stand with each other a bit more. I'm planning on the next chapter being the last one of second year at Hogwarts (FINALLY) and I'm so excited to be meeting Lupin and writing a little more about Sirius, so stay tuned for that!</p><p>Until next time.</p>
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<a name="section0017"><h2>17. Betrayal</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The weeks after the introduction of strict lockdown rules on the students following the fresh attack from the Heir of Slytherin passed sluggishly. As the weather grew brighter and more inviting outside, everything became duller and darker inside the heavy stone walls of the castle. Slytherin's common room, whilst never a truly cheerful chamber, became positively depressing and Cornelia wasn't alone in becoming listless and fed up.</p><p>There was never a moment of peace to be found with all the students holed up in the common room and dormitories, and several fights had broken out in the cramped space. Cornelia was on the verge of throttling Pansy but, as usual, Theodore had noticed and taken her revenge into his own hands; Pansy ended up being an endless victim to his pranks and seemed to be on the brink of a breakdown herself.</p><p>Theodore even seemed on edge; he had always been the kind of person that re-charged through quiet moments alone and now that was unavailable to him he was quick to snap and direct his feelings of being overwhelmed at whoever crossed his path.</p><p>Draco on the other hand was in his element what with the news circulating the castle that his father was responsible for the sacking of Dumbledore. He revelled in both the praise he got from his fellow Syltherins and a couple of older Ravenclaw students, and even the backlash he received from Gryffindors. Although there were limited possibilities for students from other houses to cause any real trouble, Cornelia found herself once again on bodyguard duty whenever they were outside their common room, despite the internal screaming she experienced every time Draco opened his mouth to gloat.</p><p>She teased him perpetually about it when they were out of earshot from other students, repeating his words back to him in a mocking baby voice, and they were often not on speaking terms because of it.</p><p>One good thing to come out of the castle lockdown was the lack of detentions Cornelia had to attend. Due to behavioural issues and either missing or unacceptable homework, Cornelia had been quietly taking herself off to detention multiple nights a week before the attack on Hermione and Penelope; however, Professors' were now keen to keep students out of the corridors and accompanied at all times, which meant detentions were completely abandoned.</p><p>Cornelia's attitude in classes didn't improve, it had become normal for her to disregard lessons now. Theodore, who had never been the best student, joined her in finding distractions to fill the hours usually dedicated to learning, his stormy mood affecting his ability to focus. Instead they plotted and planned together, or sometimes Cornelia would just whisper instructions to Theodore on ways to wreak havoc during class. It was the most fun they could find during those long weeks.</p><p>Cornelia also made sure to write a lengthy letter to Rosalind after her conversation with Blaise. As much as she resented Rosalind for her scheming and manipulation, she couldn't deny the thrill of opening her letters, her quick wit and cunning shining a sickly light in some of Cornelia's darkest moments. She found that she was still able to spill her murkiest emotions onto the page when she wrote to her, finally expressing some of the rage she harboured inside her lately (although she kept Rosalind's hand in that rage out of the letter), and she supposed that it was for the best that she remained as honest as possible in some respects; it would make her part in the game they were playing all that more believable.</p><p>The academic year steadily drew to a close, but, in usual Hogwarts fashion, there was a twist in fate during the final weeks of term. Cornelia had been in Herbology, flicking slugs at her classmates much to the amusement of Blaise and Theodore, when Madam Hooch had rushed into the room, her freckled face flushed and panicked. The room quietened as they watched her murmur in Professor Sprout's ear who gasped and turned back to the class with tear filled eyes.</p><p>"Class dismissed everyone, back to your common rooms at once! I'm sure your Head of Year will explain shortly."</p><p>When Snape solemnly delivered the news to the gathered Slytherins later that day that a student had been taken into the Chamber of Secrets and that it was likely that the school would be closed as a result, it felt like a punch to the gut for Cornelia. Snape left a quietly stunned room in his wake and it seemed it was the first news all year that had penetrated the thick, proud skin of her fellow Slytherin students. All around her students were turning to their friends with astonished and colourless faces, some were crying and embracing. Could this really be the end of their time here?</p><p>Cornelia met Theodore's murky green eyes, they were unreadable like they always became when he was upset, and he was sat very straight and very still in his seat. She moved her gaze to meet Blaise's who was beside him, his dark violet eyes troubled and scared and she knew he was feeling exactly what she was feeling - out of control and useless.</p><p>None of them spoke as they looked at each other, all of them coming to the same conclusion – this could be one of the last times they were all together like this again.</p><p>"If the Heir of Slytherin has taken someone it must mean they're becoming more powerful." Draco's voice interrupted their musing, and Cornelia wearily turned her eyes to where he had made his way over to them. Everything he said at the moment irritated her, and she had taken to avoiding him when they were in the common room. Contrary to everyone else's worried expressions, Draco had an excited spark in his eyes and he was actually smiling. Cornelia wanted to punch him.</p><p>"It won't be long before they show themselves, and they won't let the school close." He continued intently.</p><p>"How do you know that?" Cornelia snapped. She could feel a painful lump forming in her throat, so she made her voice sharp to disguise it.</p><p>"It's obvious isn't it? This hasn't happened before."</p><p>"What if they're not interested in keeping the school open?" Blaise added, his voice was steady where Cornelia's shook.</p><p>"They're the Heir of <em>Slytherin.</em>" Draco said as if it were obvious.</p><p>"That's just a name. What if they just like killing?" Blaise shot back, his own annoyance clear now.</p><p>Draco actually laughed at that. "They only kill mud-bloods!"</p><p>"<em>Only </em>kill mud-bloods?!" Cornelia couldn't believe her ears. She knew that Draco had adopted his father's views on blood purity, she knew that he blindly followed where his father lead, but still, she hadn't thought that Draco could be capable of such cold-blooded hatred. "You're disgusting Draco."</p><p>Cornelia stood and stormed past Draco, who had been rendered speechless by the venom in her insult. After spending a few minutes alone in the common room, Cornelia emerged again to make her way back over to Blaise and Theodore – she wouldn't be wasting her last moments with them sulking over Draco's idiocy. Draco seemed to get the message and they didn't speak until the next day.</p><p>When the next day arrived, the mood was even darker in the common room. By now the rumour had reached the Slytherins that the student taken was Ginny Weasley, and it had shaken them even more than the news of the school closing. It was well known that the Weasleys' were pure-bloods, blood traitors, yes, but pure-bloods all the same. Suddenly the possibility that the Heir of Slytherin's main purpose was to rid the school of mud-bloods wasn't so clear, and beneath their armour of blood status the Slytherins were more scared than anyone. Many attempted to write home to their parents and ask for their return home immediately, but trips to the Owlery were forbidden, even food was taken in the common room.</p><p>Cornelia had almost, <em>almost</em>, broken her resolve to ignore Draco in her usual plight to protect him (although she knew she wouldn't stand a chance if the Heir of Slytherin decided they wanted him), but she had stood her ground if only for the fact that he was always within sight anyway.</p><p>She, along with everyone else in the common room, had watched the Malfoy owl arrive at the window and swoop down to Draco's shoulder at lunch time. There had been an enormous scuffle afterwards of other students fighting for the owl to take their letters to their families, but the owl was as aloof as any Malfoy and had removed itself from the room out the way it came with a mocking "hoot".</p><p>In the end, Cornelia's curiosity won over her previous disgust at Draco's presence, and she made her way quickly over to him, pushing her way through the other students that were clamouring at Draco to hear a scrap of news from the outside world.</p><p>As soon as she broke through the crowd and caught a glimpse of Draco's face, she could tell it was bad news. His face was paler than usual and his jaw was clenched as if her were fighting back some emotion. She turned to the other students and fixed them with her scariest stare. "Everyone back off. <em>Now.</em>"</p><p>Maybe it was the severity of her voice or the intensity of her glare, but she was surprised when everyone actually obeyed, muttering amongst themselves and eyeing her resentfully. She turned back to Draco and gently squeezed his shoulder, bending down to murmur in his ear. "Let's go to your dorm?"</p><p>Without a word, Draco nodded and stood to join her, avoiding everyone's gazes as they walked. Cornelia scorched a path through the students with her eyes, daring anyone to comment as they made their way into the boys dormitory. Nobody dared.</p><p>A couple of boys were lingering in the dorm, chatting from their beds, but they silenced when they looked up and saw Draco and Cornelia. "We need some privacy." Cornelia used the same demanding tone that she had used in the common room, and once again was surprised to see that it worked immediately. Without question the boys filtered from the room, watching them with wide curious eyes.</p><p>Draco still hadn't made a sound and when Cornelia next looked at him, she realised that the emotion he had been suppressing was rage. It was clear in every hard plane of his face. She didn't have to say anything, Draco thrust the letter at her as soon as there was a door safely closed between them and the rest of the students.</p><p>
  <em>Dear Draco,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I thought it best to write to you as soon as possible to prevent any confusion or further embarrassment. As you're aware, your father has worked very hard this year to get on the School Board to help restore Hogwarts back to its former glory; one of his greatest achievements to date has been to remove Dumbledore from his position as Headmaster. I know you have been very proud of your father and his work, as have I, but there are many that disagree with our views and fanatically support Dumbledore.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I'm sorry to say Draco, that your father has lost his position on the School Board and that Dumbledore has returned to Hogwarts as Headmaster. It has come as a great blow to find that we have been betrayed by none other than Dobby.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>We do not know how, but your father believes that Dobby has been sneaking off to meet Harry Potter and informing him of confidential information. Dobby and Harry Potter worked together this morning to trick your father into presenting Dobby with an item of clothing – you know what that means.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>We are therefore in a very sensitive position. Our family house-elf is now free to tell anyone he wishes of any number of our secrets, and we believe that he has already been incriminating us with the Heir of Slytherin. Dumbledore claims that none other than Harry Potter has defeated the Heir of Slytherin – a clearly ridiculous idea but you know about the fool's infatuation with the boy.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I am writing to implore you to keep a low profile for the remainder of the school year and to mention your father as little as possible. I don't doubt that the news will travel fast, and I apologise for any discomfort this will cause you during these last few weeks. Rest assured that we will not take this offence lightly, and the time will come when those that have humiliated us will see the error of their ways. Until then, head down and ears open, my love.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>We shall see each other shortly.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>All my love,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Your Mother</em>
</p><p>Cornelia had to read the letter twice before she could take everything in. Lucius had been fired, Dobby had betrayed them, the Heir of Slytherin had supposedly been defeated by Harry Potter and Dumbledore was back.</p><p>"What the hell?" Was all she could say, and pretty much all she could think right then.</p><p>"It's that <em>fucking Potter</em>!" Draco's voice split into a yell and he kicked out at his bed frame before flopping onto it, face hidden in his hands.</p><p>Cornelia lingered where she stood, casting her eyes over the letter once more. Dobby had been passing messages on to Harry Potter – but what messages could those be? What did Harry Potter possibly need to know about the Malfoys? Unless… her previous suspicions of Lucius's involvement with the Heir of Slytherin were true.</p><p>Her heart raced a little at the prospect and she suddenly clutched the letter to her chest, turning her gaze back to Draco who remained laid on his back, his face covered with his hands. She knew he wouldn't want to hear reason right now, to talk logistics. She needed to be gentle with him.</p><p>"He's an interfering little prick, and he'll get his comeuppance. We'll see to that." She made her way over to the bed, wrapping her arms around one of the posts and resting her head upon it as she looked down upon Draco.</p><p>"I want to kill him." Draco's voice was muffled behind his hands, but Cornelia could hear that he was on the brink of tears.</p><p>"Maybe one day you will. I wouldn't stop you."</p><p>It took a while for Draco to calm down, even with Cornelia quietly agreeing with his ranting. They agreed not to mention the news about Lucius to anyone, they would just let everyone know about Dumbledore and the Heir of Slytherin. Cornelia kept her word right up until she found a quiet moment with Blaise and Theodore, which wasn't long after receiving the letter. With the news that the Heir of Slytherin and whatever creature they controlled were destroyed, the students were allowed to roam the castle and grounds at their own free will once more. As soon as she could, Cornelia whisked Blaise and Theodore off to a quiet corner of the grounds to explain everything that the letter had contained, and to share her suspicions about Dobby and Uncle Lucius.</p><p>"Dobby must have had some information that he felt really strongly about to be able to break out of the Manor on his own." Theodore pondered once Cornelia had finished talking. She nodded seriously.</p><p>"The Malfoy's wouldn't think twice about talking about something important in front of him. They wouldn't have thought he was intelligent enough to understand."</p><p>"But you think he was?" Blaise asked, his voice ever so slightly condescending. Cornelia straightened slowly, pulling herself up to full height and staring Blaise down.</p><p>"I know he was." She said in an authoritative tone, and Blaise looked a little embarrassed. "But I thought it was impossible for him to break the family's confidence? Or to do anything behind their backs?" Cornelia continued to Theodore who had at least referred to Dobby as having feelings.</p><p>"House elves can do certain things without their owner's permission, so I suppose that creates a small loophole that Dobby might have taken advantage of. Still, it goes against their nature to betray their owner's trust so he will have punished himself really severely. Wouldn't your aunt or uncle have noticed that?"</p><p>Cornelia snorted at that. "Not at all – they're often the ones handing out the punishments."</p><p>Theodore caught her eye and she knew that she saw a flash of pity in his face. "You have a house-elf?" She asked him.</p><p>"Of course. Most old wizarding families do."</p><p>"What are they called?"</p><p>"Gonry." It was clear in the softening of his voice that Theodore didn't share Blaise and the Malfoy's views on the sentience of house elves, and Cornelia gave him a private, supportive smile, which he echoed.</p><p>"So you think Lucius had something to do with opening the Chamber of Secrets?" Blaise asked, clearly wanting to redeem his previous stumble with Cornelia. Cornelia glanced around to double check nobody could hear them and frowned.</p><p>"It just all seems so coincidental. Uncle Lucy wanted to hurt the Weasleys and Dumbledore, and who was it that was most effected by the opening of the Chamber? Ginny's lucky to still be alive."</p><p>Blaise and Theodore both nodded thoughtfully. "Do you think he might have been the heir?" Theodore whispered.</p><p>"No. He's not smart enough for that."</p><p>"Then what…" Blaise began and Cornelia heaved a frustrated sigh.</p><p>"I don't know! I just know he had something to do with it. I can feel it."</p><p>The final weeks at Hogwarts were generally joyous for most of the students. Cornelia was certainly amongst the majority who suddenly found themselves much more grateful for being at the castle and the new-found freedom its walls and grounds represented. Draco, on the other hand, was not. His previous ego and boisterous behaviour had vanished, and he now skulked around the castle quietly, avoiding crowds and conversations.</p><p>Cornelia usually preferred Draco this way, but this dark mood of his was even getting to her. She generally left him to sulk with his loyal cronies – she wasn't upset that Lucius had been fired at all, and she knew that only irritated him further.</p><p>The end of year exams were a disaster for Cornelia, but she pushed the dread of the results and the consequences of said results to one side to enjoy her final days of second year with her friends. She had a long, morbid summer ahead of her, one that was to be even more unbearable than ever if Uncle Lucius's mood was anything like Draco's, and she wanted to fully embrace these carefree moments whilst she could.</p><p>Still, time seemed to slip through her fingers like fine grains of sand and before she knew it they were all back on the Hogwarts Express again, speeding through the countryside away from Hogwarts. Another year ending before her eyes.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>WE DID IT! OH BOY WE DID IT! I cannot believe how long or how many words COS has taken to cover to say it's my least favourite movie/book. I wonder if the years will just take longer and longer to cover? I kind of hope so. I love getting completely immersed in characters and their day to day to day lives... so I hope you do too.</p><p>Until next time!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0018"><h2>18. Heart of the Maze</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>T/W - This chapter contains mention of child abuse.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Cornelia's cheek smarted in the balmy heat of the sun as a drop of sweat trickled from her hairline into the fresh graze that coloured it, but she barely noticed the sting. Her body was peppered with wounds and bruises that throbbed in a constant reminder of their presence, and her cheek, although the freshest, was mild in comparison. The worst was the burning of her palms whenever she curled her fingers to turn the pages of the newspaper she was currently absorbed in; across which were multiple long, plum-coloured slashes of raised and raw skin where Uncle Lucy's cane had struck her repeatedly the previous night.</p><p>Every now and then Cornelia would break from reading her book and turn her gaze either to the skies or to consider the skin of her hands. She would clench and unclench her fists, hissing at the sharp pain the movement caused, and yet her deep brown eyes glimmered with satisfaction. She was proud of her war wounds.</p><p>She was currently sat in the centre of the maze that stretched the entirety of the far end of the Manor's grounds, it was a spot she had been haunting regularly throughout the summer holidays. It was open and far enough from the manor for Cornelia to feel a sense of freedom, and yet enclosed enough by the four tall, hedged walls to be comforting. In the centre of the square was a simple, yet elegant water fountain surrounded by four, deep, stone benches. Flowerbeds lined the square, and their scent together with the soft gushing of the water created a sense of tranquillity that would be otherwise impossible for Cornelia to find during those weeks.</p><p>Cornelia and Draco had memorised the route to the centre of the maze by the time they were 8 years old, and they had long since stopped playing in the maze as it held no mystery for them anymore. Cornelia knew the same went for Uncle Lucy and Aunt Cissy, both of whom very rarely stepped outside. This made the centre of the maze the perfect hiding spot for Cornelia during that summer.</p><p>As she had predicted, it had been some of the worst weeks she had ever spent in the Malfoy Manor. Uncle Lucy was sour and tense from his shameful removal from the School Board and being shown up by Dumbledore and Harry Potter. His already short fuse was even quicker to spark, and his outbursts were violent and harsh, and even extended to Draco. He wasn't accustomed to losing.</p><p>Draco was nearly as miserable and as bitter as his father. Every cruel word or sharp jab with Uncle Lucy's snake-headed cane increased his hatred for Harry Potter, who was suddenly to blame for all of his woes. He was almost as unpleasant to be around as Lucius, and Cornelia enjoyed her space from him too; not to mention part of her felt sickeningly responsible for many of the beatings he had received, as well as feeling utterly useless in preventing them.</p><p>For, as you know, Cornelia had found her own escape for the rage she kept constantly bottled up inside her that year at Hogwarts, and it had become clear very quickly it was impossible to bundle it up back inside now it was out. Her outbursts, disobedience and general unpleasantness in the face of authority continued into the summer, and it had made for a terrible but spectacular firework display when met with Uncle Lucy's lack of tolerance.</p><p>Cornelia's bruises and sallow appearance were testament to this combination, and whilst she accepted her beatings and missed meals with a stubborn satisfaction, each blow a validation for the resentment she harboured within her as well as proof that she was making some sort of impact, Draco did not. Two years of growth and freedom at Hogwarts had changed him too, and that summer he had quite often attempted to argue with his father when he blew up in the face of Cornelia's defiance. It was this that had earnt Draco all of his beatings, and that was something Cornelia couldn't stomach.</p><p>This was how Cornelia had earnt her newest wound, the wide graze across her right cheek. That morning she had been allowed back to the breakfast table after 3 days of only being afforded food at dinner time – this has been in punishment for refusing to obey Aunt Cissy's demands of proper mealtime etiquette such as sitting up straight, elbows off the table, not playing with food and not sulking. For a while, Cornelia had abided Aunt Cissy's warnings, mainly because she was ravenous and the eggs benedict was too good to be passed up, but as her shrunken stomach began to fill, her resolution faded.</p><p>"<em>Slow down</em>." Aunt Cissy hissed across the table to her, her face was taut and Cornelia noticed her eyes flit nervously to Lucius and back.</p><p>By this point it was barely a conscious decision for Cornelia to disobey or mock the rules given to her, and without a second thought she froze with the fork halfway to her open mouth before continuing to eat her breakfast in ultra-slow motion.</p><p>Aunt Cissy pursed her lips, definitely shooting nervous glances towards Uncle Lucius now, who hadn't looked up from his own meal yet. Draco had stopped eating entirely to stare at Cornelia with wide eyes. He no longer found her antics amusing and had countless times begged her to behave that summer, but Cornelia either couldn't or didn't want to - she didn't know which.</p><p>It didn't take long for Lucius's cool blue eyes to fix on Cornelia's performance, and after a second or two he quietly placed his cutlery down on his plate. Draco and Aunt Cissy were holding their breath now, and though Cornelia's heart raced in anticipation, she kept up the charade.</p><p>"What are you doing?" Uncle Lucy practically whispered, yet his voice seemed to echo around the silent room.</p><p>"Hmm?" Cornelia mumbled around an overly stuffed mouthful.</p><p>Without another word, Uncle Lucius stood from his seat and crossed the room in one fluid movement. Cornelia hastily swallowed her food as he approached, a cold sweat prickling across her skin. Sharp pain flashed across her scalp as Lucius grabbed a fistful of her hair, and she cried out as he dragged her to her feet. She barely registered the sound of Draco's chair dragging across the floor as he shot up, nor his yell of "Father!". Only when Lucius stilled, his left hand tugging on Cornelia's hair, did she open her eyes to see his wand drawn and pointing towards Draco.</p><p>"Sit down, Draco." Uncle Lucius seemed scarily calm, his eyes narrowed on Draco who looked suspended in action, his hands reaching towards them but his face slack and blank. He obeyed Uncle Lucius's demand without hesitation, his face still completely void of emotion, clearly imperiused, and rage curled in Cornelia's stomach.</p><p>"Stop it!" She screeched, quickly and violently striking out at Lucius's wand, which arced through the air and clattered noisily to the floor. As Draco drew a deep and ragged breath, the world turned upside down for Cornelia and she was thrust towards the floor. She collided hard with the ground, her cheek being the first to break contact, and for a few moments she was completely disorientated.</p><p>Uncle Lucius's calm façade had finally cracked, and his cheeks were flaming, spittle flying from his mouth as he demanded Cornelia to be locked up for the rest of the holidays, how he wouldn't abide being made a fool of in his own home. Despite her sore and spinning head, Cornelia scrambled to her feet as he stepped towards her again, her instinct for flight thrumming through her veins, and she managed to dart through his hands that swiped for her and stumble towards the door.</p><p>She didn't look back at the cacophony behind her, a loud confused mess of Lucius screaming curses after her, Draco calling her name and Aunt Cissy's higher, shrill voice attempting to calm her husband, and just allowed her feet to carry her from the manor and to her safe space.</p><p>When she burst into the centre of the maze minutes later, chest heaving, cheek angry, hair tangled and wild and head still spinning, she collapsed on one of the stone benches. Adrenaline was pumping thick and fast through her, and her sides were cramped from the desperate dash into the maze. It took a while for her heart to slow and to be able to gather her scattered thoughts.</p><p>That was the angriest she had ever seen Uncle Lucy. Even yesterday when she had gotten her owl through with her results from her second year at Hogwarts, Lucius had been icy cold as he delivered the biting whips to her palms. It was frightening and invigorating all at the same time. As the expression on his face burned in her mind, her lip curled, not quite a grimace and not quite a smile. She had made him feel as angry as he made her! She had finally gotten a rise out of him!</p><p>Then her mind wandered to Draco. She had left him defending her, left him to face the wrath of a furious Lucius. Her chest squeezed and her stomach flipped and she quickly averted her mind onto something else – she wouldn't think on that. Instead, she leant forward and pulled a briefcase from under her bench. It was filled with books that she had planted there early on in the summer.</p><p>And it is there that she stayed, glancing from the book to her hands to the skies, as if she were waiting for something. That something came just before lunch - a grey spotted owl carrying a newspaper lurching through the skies towards her. She exchanged coin for the paper and when she smoothed the paper open, a smile grew on her face and she breathed "hello again" to the face staring back at her on the front page.</p><p>It was Sirius Black, a recently escaped convict from Azkaban. His expression was gnarled in the picture, his teeth bared in a growl and a yell, long curled hair bouncing about his face as dark eyes condemned all the press that surrounded him.</p><p>During one of the rare moments of peace early in the holidays, Aunt Cissy had discussed the escape of Sirius Black with her and Draco. Draco had been the one to bring up that Sirius shared his mother's maiden name, and Aunt Cissy's lips had thinned in the way they always did when she was thinking deeply on something.</p><p>"Well, he <em>is</em> my cousin." She had eventually said demurely, her large eyes watching Draco amusedly for his reaction.</p><p>"He is?! But you never told us about Sirius!" Draco had said accusingly. It would have been another string to his bow to have the known mass murderer Sirius Black as a family member.</p><p>"He was disowned when we were young so I never felt the need to mention him." Aunt Cissy explained and this time Cornelia's ears pricked up.</p><p>"Disowned? For what?" She asked, sitting up from her previous slumped position.</p><p>"He didn't abide the family rules." Aunt Cissy's voice hardened considerably as she addressed Cornelia, who had already caused considerable trouble by that point in the holidays. Cornelia hushed at the pointed remark, but Draco took it up instead.</p><p>"What family rules?"</p><p>"The House of Black wasn't so different from our family, they understood the importance of upholding the pure blood line of wizards. Sirius never liked that… he left when he was sixteen."</p><p>Aunt Cissy had Cornelia's full attention now, and she slid from the sofa to join Draco on the floor by the fire, its flickering light moving across her rapt expression as she stared up at Narcissa.</p><p>"But the news says that he killed twelve muggles – that's why he went to Azkaban." She said softly, and Aunt Cissy looked at her for a long time. It might have been because it was one of the first times since the children had returned from Hogwarts that Cornelia didn't have a haughty or miserable look on her face, or wasn't talking in a mocking or hard voice, that Aunt Cissy chose to divulge the truth about Sirius in that moment.</p><p>"I don't believe that's what happened." She said after a long, tense pause. "Sirius was a lot of things - arrogant, idiotic – but he wasn't a muggle killer. He loved them too much." Her face twisted at the end as if she were tasting something sour. Draco's face fell, immediately less impressed by the thought of Sirius being innocent. Cornelia on the other hand leant further forward, her eyes eager.</p><p>"So… what do you think happened?" She asked slowly, still being careful in her approach.</p><p>"I think a lot of things happened at that time. It was just after the demise of the Dark Lord; supporters were being murdered and imprisoned everywhere, going into hiding…" her eyes flashed at that "it was chaos. Sirius was just one amongst many being labelled a traitor."</p><p>"Did you tell anyone?"</p><p>"Tell anyone what?"</p><p>"That you thought he was innocent?" Cornelia questioned, and she immediately knew she had gone too far. Aunt Cissy's eyebrows shot up and her lips pursed.</p><p>"Certainly not! That fool belongs in Azkaban. He could have rotted in there for all I care." But despite her haughty look of disdain, Aunt Cissy looked uncomfortable, something in the stiff way she held herself perfectly composed.</p><p>Since that moment Cornelia felt a strong affinity to Sirius Black, and whilst Aunt Cissy refused to give her any more details on what he was like or what he had specifically done to be disowned, Cornelia began avidly reading the news or searching the library for any mention of him. The Daily Prophet gave certain information about Sirius Black and what lead to his arrest, covering how he had been the secret keeper to his supposed best friend James Potter and his wife Lily and son Harry, only to betray their location to the Dark Lord. The information Cornelia was so desperate for though was his relationship with the rest of the Black family, and what had led to their cutting of ties to each other. Cornelia felt as if she were drowning in the Malfoy's expectations of her, and here was living proof that it was possible to escape the chains of a noble family. However, the newspapers weren't interested in the backstory of Sirius Black, they were more bothered about gathering information of his whereabouts, and the tidbits of information Aunt Cissy gave her before she shooed her away just made for an even more convoluted story.</p><p>It was then, as Cornelia continued to pore over the newspaper article on Sirius Black, that she heard the footsteps approaching on the gravel paths that wound through the maze. She shot to her feet and cast her eyes wildly around the square centre, there were two entrances, and she darted as quickly and quietly towards the one that the footsteps were not coming from.</p><p>Keeping completely still and quiet, Cornelia listened as someone stepped and paused on the other side of the hedge in the centre. No doubt they would be taking in the open briefcase filled with books and snacks, and she cursed herself for leaving it open – her hiding place was now ruined.</p><p>"Nelly?" Draco's voice called and the breath that Cornelia had been holding escaped in a rush. She stepped out from the bush and back into the square to find Draco looking at her with a tired amused expression. "So this is where you've been hiding." She saw his eyes flit down to her cheek and his smile faded.</p><p>"You found me." She answered, but there was no joy in her voice.</p><p>Draco gestured to the newspaper she was still clutching. "Still on the Black case?"</p><p>She moved forward and placed the paper on the bench. "It's just the news."</p><p>A silence spread awkwardly between the two of them then and Cornelia's insides twisted uncomfortably. She hated herself for being like this with Draco, it wasn't his fault that he was a Malfoy by default, and he had stood up for her multiple times this holiday, she just wished that he didn't bother, she didn't want it on her conscience.</p><p>"Is your cheek okay?" Draco said in a strangled sort of voice, stepping towards her slowly. She shrugged.</p><p>"How was Uncle Lucy when I left?" She asked, watching Draco as he stopped before her, his head tilted to the side as he regarded her grazed cheek with a furrowed brow. She turned her head so he couldn't see it clearly, hair falling over her face.</p><p>"Furious. I got out of there pretty soon after you." His cool fingers slowly guided her chin back to face him so he could inspect her again.</p><p>"Did he… hurt you?" Cornelia asked sullenly like she didn't really want to know the answer. Draco met her eyes, and she became suddenly acutely aware of their proximity, his fingers still gently holding her chin in place, barely stood a foot away from her. The awkward twisting in her stomach shifted a little and became something entirely different and new to her. She jerked her chin from his hand and stepped away from him.</p><p>"He hit me when I tried to stop him from coming after you." Draco replied in a blasé tone.</p><p>"Sorry." Cornelia mumbled to her feet and Draco sighed loudly, flopping onto the stone bench beside them.</p><p>"If you're so sorry why do you keep on making trouble for me?"</p><p>Cornelia's eyes flashed at him then, her familiar friend anger rearing its head again. "Trouble for <em>you</em>?" She snapped and Draco returned her scowl.</p><p>"You keep provoking father!" Cornelia barked an ironic laugh at that, but Draco continued. "You know what he gets like when he's mad."</p><p>"I still don't see what that has to do with you."</p><p>"What it has to do with me -" Draco's voice had risen considerably, and Cornelia got the sense that he had been wanting to say this for some time. "-is that I can't sit and watch him hurt you!"</p><p>They glared at each other for a moment or two, before Cornelia heaved a sigh of her own and joined Draco on the bench. A large part of her wanted to promise that she would stop making trouble then, that the last thing she wanted was for Draco to get hurt because of her, but she wasn't so sure that she <em>could </em>stop. Something had snapped inside her and she wasn't even sure what it was, so how could she fix it? Besides, the words seemed to get stuck in her throat and in the end, it had to be Draco to break the silence again.</p><p>"You've been avoiding me all summer." His voice was soft again now, sad.</p><p>"I'm sorry." She said again feeling like an idiot because she couldn't express herself any better than that.</p><p>"Why though?" Draco asked urgently, attempting to peer up into her face that was hidden by tangled curls. Cornelia clenched her fists in an attempt to shush the emotions that were building inside her, clawing for an escape, and hissed with the pain – she had forgotten about the wounds on her palms. Draco noticed and immediately grabbed her hand, pulling it open in front of him.</p><p>"Nelly!" He moaned and she tugged her hand away, holding it to her chest.</p><p>"It's nothing." She said quickly.</p><p>"It's not nothing!" Draco cried attempting to pull her hand back towards him but giving up and getting to his feet when she didn't let him. "I'm going to talk to mother about this."</p><p>"No, Draco, don't." Although Cornelia was sure that Aunt Cissy already knew about the beatings she was receiving, the thought of Draco complaining to her about it made Cornelia feel as if she had lost. Right now she was suffering in silence, even provoking further attacks, to make her mark and fight her ground – crying to Aunt Cissy about it was weak, it would waste her weeks of struggle.</p><p>"You need healing." Draco was beginning to walk away now, and Cornelia scrambled to her feet after him, tugging helplessly on his arm. He turned deaf ears to her pleading for him to stop, to not tell Aunt Cissy, and Cornelia did the only thing that she knew would stop him in his tracks; she threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and pulling him close to her, allowing the tears that always seemed within reach these days to spill.</p><p>Draco froze in his tracks, shocked by the sudden close contact and show of emotion from Cornelia, who had gone out of her way to avoid him for weeks now and hadn't cried in front of him since they were 10 years old. Slowly he unravelled and wrapped his arms around her, she felt disconcertingly small after a summer of skipping meals, not to mention he had grown considerably since they last hugged and was now almost a foot taller than her.</p><p>"Please don't tell Aunt Cissy!" Cornelia sobbed in his ear and Draco knew he'd do anything to stop her from crying.</p><p>"Okay, okay, I won't." He murmured, squeezing her tightly as if he could somehow absorb the sorrow from her into his own skin. He didn't understand why it was so important to Cornelia, but it didn't matter in that moment.</p><p>After a few minutes the sobs that wracked Cornelia's body slowed, and she started to release him, he slowly followed suit, his expression strained. As Draco stared concernedly into her face, Cornelia's self-hatred bubbled violently inside, especially when she caught herself making a mental note of how effective her tears were against him.</p><p>Draco spent the rest of the afternoon in the centre of the maze with Cornelia, and soon after her explosion of emotion they were able to lapse into the comfy familiarity they had always shared. As the warm light started to dim, Draco returned to the mansion to scope out the situation for Cornelia, returning half an hour later with the news that she was to remain out of the sight of her Aunt and Uncle for the remainder of the holidays, and that somehow Aunt Cissy had managed to convince Uncle Lucius not to lock her up.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Welcome back to the party! It's been a pretty dark summer at the Malfoy Mansion for our troubled Cornelia, but she's found a companion in Sirius Black of all people! I wonder how he would feel to find Bellatrix's Lestrange feels an affinity to him... not too pleased I would imagine. Draco's as fluffy as ever, but it seems like their relationship is getting a little more complex and troubled - can't wait to throw a few more obstacles at them during this school year!</p><p>Until next time.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0019"><h2>19. Overwhelmed</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A few days later the time finally came for Cornelia and Draco to return to Hogwarts for their third year. The night before they were due to leave, Aunt Cissy had visited Cornelia in her room, silently looked her over and healed any still visible cuts or bruises. She placed her wand to the still sore slashes across her palms last, and they shone a pearly white even after the healing spell had been cast. Aunt Cissy held Cornelia's hand upturned in her own as they both considered the results, before turning her gaze up to Cornelia's eyes and holding them. Her expression was unreadable, but her eyes didn't have that hard quality they had held so often that summer. After a moment or two, she rose wordlessly and swept from the room, chin high, and leaving Cornelia feeling puzzled but a little warmer.</p><p>However, no matter the time Aunt Cissy had spent healing Cornelia before anybody else could lay eyes on her, she couldn't magic away the weight-loss or sallowness of her skin, which Rosalind noticed the second she clapped eyes on Cornelia the next morning on Platform 9 ¾.</p><p>Cornelia had been sending letters back and forth to Rosalind all summer as Rosalind had insisted – taking and replying to her owls from the centre of the maze – and whilst she had told Rosalind that she was unhappy, she had failed to mention the physical abuse she had been enduring. As Cornelia watched Rosalind wade through the crowd towards her at Platform 9 ¾, her eyes alight with passion, her stride purposeful, Cornelia remembered why she hadn't said anything.</p><p>Rosalind was the type of person who got whatever she liked and destroyed whatever she didn't like, and she took no prisoners in the process. It was a trait that, despite everything Cornelia knew about Rosalind and her scheming, she admired. If Rosalind got wind even slightly of how Lucius had treated her that summer, she wouldn't hesitate in her attack. She was literally in the business of swooping abused girls out of their homes and Cornelia suspected she had been waiting for such an opportunity to arise with herself. As much as Cornelia dreamt of leaving the Malfoy Manor, she most certainly didn't want to be rescued by Rosalind and spend the rest of her life in her debt - she knew what that would entail.</p><p>So, as Rosalind approached with fire in her eyes, Cornelia attempted to communicate with her wordlessly, to plead with her no to make a fuss. It just took one look to see that it was pointless even trying to stop her, it was clear in the clench of her jaw and the furious slant of her eyes what her intent was. She was on the rampage.</p><p>Rosalind swept to a crouch in front of her without so much as a greeting and began inspecting her, tilting her head left to right, lifting her arms and turning her hands in her own. Her eyes were challenging, as if daring her to protest, but Cornelia didn't dare – Aunt Cissy, on the other hand, did.</p><p>"What on earth do you think you're doing?" She exclaimed, but she spoke at the same time that Rosalind found the thin white scars upon Cornelia's palms.</p><p>"How did you get these?" She asked Cornelia as if she hadn't heard Aunt Cissy at all, but Cornelia didn't know what to say. Her heart fluttered and her eyes automatically flitted nervously over to Aunt Cissy and Uncle Lucy, who she was surprised to see looked wary of Rosalind.</p><p>It was all the answer Rosalind needed, and now she turned her gaze onto Narcissa and Lucius, rising slowly to where she towered above them both. The transformation was incredible, and the air around Rosalind seemed to sparkle with danger. Cornelia wondered if she should just run for it now rather than watch what was bound to be an ugly and very uncomfortable scene unfold, something that she desperately didn't want to be in the middle of.</p><p>"How dare you lay a hand on this child?" Her voice was low and murderous, and Uncle Lucius actually took a small step backwards. Rosalind had a teensy tiny reputation of murdering even more powerful men than he, and, if the rumours were true, they never even saw it coming.</p><p>Aunt Cissy on the other hand puffed herself up to her full height too. "How dare you accuse us of such a thing?"</p><p>"Oh come now, it is clear to anyone with eyes that she has been starved!" Rosalind's voice was getting louder, but not in a shrill way, it boomed instead. The people closest to them were beginning to stare, and Cornelia noticed that the Weasley family was amongst them. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Blaise, he had the same threatening glint in his eyes as his mother. She shrunk into him, hoping against hope that the ground would just open up and swallow her whole.</p><p>"We have done no such thing!" Aunt Cissy shrieked, her cheeks colouring.</p><p>"And which one of you whipped her?" Rosalind continued in her interrogation, unmoved by Aunt Cissy's denial. There was an outbreak of muttering around them and Cornelia saw a woman who must have been Mrs Weasley put her hands on her hips with an expression that she would very much like to join in the argument. Blaise's grip tightened on her.</p><p>"That is enough." Finally, Uncle Lucius found his voice, and he stepped forward, his eyes flitting to the crowd that was gathering around them. "This child is in our care, you neither know nor have the right to question our disciplinary techniques."</p><p>"Oh, is <em>that</em> what you call child abuse?" Rosalind scoffed but Uncle Lucius had found his confidence again.</p><p>"Cornelia, I have no doubt, will tell you herself of how she has taken ill this summer. And those scars, though I shouldn't need to explain myself to you, are marks of old that she picked up from playing up a tree with Draco."</p><p>"Lies!" Rosalind cried, but it seemed the crowd (other than the Weasleys) weren't so sure judging by the murmurs breaking out amongst them.</p><p>"Cornelia?" Uncle Lucius had turned those icy eyes to her now, as did Rosalind and, so it seemed, everyone else on the platform.</p><p>Cornelia's heart was racing, she could hear the dull thud of it in her ears, and her stomach lurched, she seriously thought she might throw up. She couldn't handle everyone looking at her like that, pitying, worried; she didn't need or want their sympathy. The whole thing was so humiliating she could barely breathe. So, she nodded, keeping her eyes turned firmly to the ground, it was the easiest thing to do.</p><p>She could practically hear the triumph in Lucius's voice when he addressed Rosalind then, and she hated him for it. "Now, because I'm sure you meant well, I don't expect an apology, but I do need you to step away from my children. Now."</p><p>"Cornelia?" Blaise whispered in her ear, but she just shook her head minutely. She wasn't going to do this here, not for Rosalind, not for Blaise and not even for herself. She just wanted to get on the train, get away from here, and pretend it never happened. His hand slid from her shoulder and despite her confidence she had made the right choice, it felt like he left a hole behind as he moved from her side and back towards his mother.</p><p>"Come along." Uncle Lucius said briskly to Cornelia, Draco and Aunt Cissy, and the crowd parted as they made their way towards the train, Cornelia refusing to look up as they walked.</p><p>It felt like there was a waging of war inside her, one half behind her with the Zabinis' and the other half right where she was, where she had grown up and what she knew with the Malfoys. It was miserable, bleak and violent, but she knew where she stood with it, and she couldn't turn her back on it just like that on Platform 9 ¾. Still, she felt sick when she thought of the bridges she may have just burned whilst she essentially protected the Malfoys.</p><p>Before they could climb aboard, Uncle Lucius leant down and under the guise of a hug, he whispered in her ear "If you have any contact with that woman, I will find out and you will regret it. Understood?" Cornelia nodded, feeling oddly like nothing that was happening was reality, and Uncle Lucius stood with a shark like smile. "Have a good term you two. We'll see you at Christmas."</p><p>When Cornelia stepped onto the train, heaving her luggage behind her, she was pale and shaking and when she dared to glance up, she saw that Draco looked much the same. They were amongst the first on the train and were quick to get settled in a carriage, drawing the curtains and sitting in shocked silence. That was how Theodore found them, sliding quietly into the carriage and absorbing the atmosphere immediately as he took in Cornelia's quivering, weak smile. He hadn't witnessed the stand off between Rosalind and the Malfoys, but he didn't question Cornelia, he just took the seat beside her and placed a small hand on her arm, ignoring the shivers that were running up and down her body.</p><p>"Did you have a nice summer?" Cornelia croaked in an attempt to start a conversation, and Theodore smiled encouragingly at her.</p><p>"Terrible as usual." He didn't bother to ask her anything in return, and they lapsed back into silence.</p><p>It wasn't long after the train began moving that the carriage door slammed open and Blaise swung in. Cornelia cringed automatically; she had been waiting for him to show up.</p><p>"What the hell Cornelia?!" He began immediately, his voice louder than she had ever heard it. Theodore bristled beside her.</p><p>"Blaise!" He gasped.</p><p>Cornelia couldn't look at him, her eyes instead falling upon Draco, who was watching Blaise with an odd expression on his face.</p><p>"You just completely humiliated Mother, in front of everyone!" Blaise ranted, stepping closer to her position by the window. Suddenly Draco was on his feet and blocking Blaise's path to Cornelia.</p><p>"Your Mother just humiliated all of us in front of everyone!" He spat back and Blaise's answering fury seemed to fill the whole carriage. He sized Draco up, tensing as if he was about to swing a punch in his face.</p><p>Cornelia darted up and tried to squeeze past Draco to step in between them, but Draco held her back. "You should be embarrassed - your father's a disgrace!" Blaise yelled and Draco, already tense from the events of the morning, snapped. He threw himself at Blaise, his head colliding with Blaise's chin and they sprawled backwards, landing in a writhing heap on the floor.</p><p>The combination of yelling, scuffling and Cornelia's screams of "stop!" drew yet another curious crowd that opened the carriage door and peered in to watch the drama unfold. She could hear the call of "fight!" being passed down the train corridor and her cheeks flamed in embarrassment. She couldn't take much more of this.</p><p>She drew her wand and aimed a knockback jinx at the student that fronted the crowd squeezing into the doorway, a petite fourth year Ravenclaw, whose feet left the floor as she was thrown back into the person directly behind them, smacking her head off their nose and thrusting the entire crowd roughly backwards. The uproar was enormous as multiple students dropped like dominoes, but it didn't do anything to interrupt the fight between Draco and Blaise. In seconds Cornelia had slammed the door closed, locked it and was turning her wand on the boys.</p><p>By now Draco had lost his position on top and was squirming desperately on the floor, attempting to hold off Blaise's punches with one hand and throwing manic slaps with the other. Both of their noses were bleeding, Draco's lip was bloodied too. Horrified, Cornelia cast a full body bind on both of them and Blaise collapsed face first onto Draco.</p><p>Cornelia and Theodore worked together to heave him off and laid them side by side on the ground. As she stared down at the two of them bouncing with the motion of the train, the commotion of the students still gathered outside the door, Cornelia really felt like she was coming apart at the seams. Nothing was as it should be. Everything was wrong!</p><p>Something that resembled panic but much more twisted, was rising in her chest, and what was more alarming was that the more she fought it down the more it seemed to drown her. Her life was a mess, she would never recover from that scene on the Platform, all the students knew what she went through at home, they would all look at her differently now, she would never hear from Rosalind again, Blaise hated her, she kept on getting Draco hurt, she was going to be stuck with the Malfoy's forever…. the list went on and on, gaining momentum in her mind.</p><p>Her fingers clawed and raised to her hair where they grabbed handfuls, and her whole face distorted with confusion and terror as she attempted to smother the mania that was gripping her.</p><p>Theodore was at her side now, his hands fussing around her without actually touching her. "Cornelia? Cornelia?" He was asking, but Cornelia could barely hear him. She couldn't seem to catch her breath and her chest was heaving as she panted faster and faster, her heart thrumming like birds wings in her ears, and the carriage spun around her. She sank quickly to the floor, wrapping her arms around her knees as if to hold herself together, but it didn't work; and suddenly she was spilling out, the dams inside her were crumbling and it was like all the feelings she had been locking up safely deep within her for years were gushing out of her.</p><p>Theodore, completely flustered in the face of Cornelia's unexpected panic-attack, cast the countercharm to both Blaise and Draco's full body-binds. Whilst Blaise took a few moments to gather his ability to move again, Draco scrambled up in an instant, crawling quickly to where Cornelia sat curled in on herself, gasping on the ground.</p><p>"Nelly? Nelly?" He whispered, placing bruised but gentle hands on her arms and gently prying them apart so he could see her face. "It's okay Nelly, we've stopped fighting. It's okay." He was muttering, desperately trying to get her to look at him, but she couldn't see anything past the tears that spilled thick and fast.</p><p>Draco could hardly believe it. He had known Cornelia for almost her whole life and he had never, ever seen her like this. He wished he could see what was going on in her mind, wished he could somehow step inside and put things in order for her. She had always been a closed book, and that had been especially noticeable this summer, every hit from his father pushing the door on her true thoughts and feelings shut even further. It had hurt him to watch, but he felt so helpless in the face of it. Yet Cornelia had taken every blow in her stride, unshakeable and undeniably strong – he had always admired that strength; he was envious of it. But something had changed in Cornelia over the last year, and her regular whip of temper and complete rejection of anything resembling an order felt like they were stepping closer and closer to a cliff-edge, and now here she was, for the second time in a matter of days, inconsolable. It terrified him.</p><p>The two of them were so absorbed that they didn't notice the train judder to a stop, the noise of the engines dying around them, but Blaise and Theodore did. They shared a look, shock turning to confusion, and Theodore spun to peer out of the window. It was eerily dark outside, but surely it wasn't late enough for that? As he leant further forward, he noticed his breath start to fog up the glass, blocking the outside from view – but that was impossible – it had been a warm late summers day just minutes previously! All of a sudden, he understood and span to face Blaise who was shivering in the middle of the carriage.</p><p>"Dementors!" He hissed at exactly the same time the lock on the door clicked open.</p><p>Blaise leapt away from the door, almost tripping over Draco and Cornelia who remained huddled on the floor, still completely unaware of what was happening around them. It wasn't until Cornelia's laboured breathing was joined by the horrifying sound of someone drawing a great, ongoing, rattling breath did Draco's muttering fall silent, and he finally turned to face the robed figure in the doorway.</p><p>A cold settled amongst them then, seeping into their skin and penetrating their very bones. It chased out any source of light it came across – hope, love, happiness, all was snuffed out. Draco's arms fell limp around him, all thought of comforting Cornelia gone, and the boys did the same, collapsing into their seats.</p><p>Cornelia felt the cold too, but unlike the others, she embraced it. It numbed the mania within her, stilling her breath and tears and filling her mind with a silent darkness. The dementor swooped into the room, turning its cloaked face towards Draco and Cornelia on the floor, and took an even deeper breath, sucking the very colour from the room with it. That was when the silent darkness twisted and Cornelia realised that she was alone in the tapestry room, that's why it was so dark. But then… no, she wasn't alone.</p><p>"This is your own fault." Lucius's voice slunk through the air towards her, and she heard him unsheathe his cane. She cowered, raising her hands above her head to protect it from the worst of the blows, but they never came. Then, with a disorientating SWOOSH, the sounds of the compartment flooded her ears.</p><p>"She's fainted." There was the deep reassuring tones of Blaise's voice.</p><p>Someone's fingers on her wrists, someone else's digging into her shoulder and shaking her.</p><p>"Nelly? Wake up Nelly!" Draco's voice filled with panic.</p><p>The ground was shuddering beneath her in a repetitive pattern, the train.</p><p>Her eyes fluttered open and light flooded in, blinding her.</p><p>The light disappeared as someone dragged her up into an embrace, her face smothered in their robes. It was Draco, she knew his smell.</p><p>"Wh-what-" She struggled to form words and Theodore's voice cut through the room.</p><p>"Let her breathe, Draco! She needs air."</p><p>Draco hastily pulled away but continued to support her head off the ground. She was confused to find that she was sprawled across the floor – but the last thing she remembered had been Draco and Blaise laid out on the floor.</p><p>"What happened?" She mumbled, attempting to push herself up, but her arms quivered pathetically beneath her. Draco adjusted himself so he could support more of her weight, pulling her into a fully seated position.</p><p>"You missed our little visitor." Blaise said darkly, and Cornelia was just relieved to see that he wasn't shouting at her anymore. She caught his eye and he even threw her a shaky attempt at a smirk.</p><p>"Who?" She tried once more to support herself and found she was more able to do it this time. "I'm fine Draco, really." She added, and Draco moved away slightly, still leaving one hand on her shoulder.</p><p>"A dementor." Theodore explained, his face grim. In fact, everyone looked awful, Cornelia realised as she glanced around at them all.</p><p>"You're kidding." She scoffed, although she knew Theodore would never joke about something like that. Very rarely joked at all actually.</p><p>"Don't you remember?" Draco asked from beside her, he was watching her very carefully. Cornelia scowled, taking a few moments to rifle through her mind.</p><p>"I remember you two fighting…" her eyes flashed between Draco and Blaise, but they were both either too exhausted or too agitated to respond, she couldn't tell which. "So I body-bound you both. Then I… erm." She suddenly remembered the sickening whirlwind of emotions that she had gotten swept up in, leaving her very senses behind, and fell silent.</p><p>"You had a panic attack." Theodore finished for her, his eyes kind.</p><p>Cornelia blushed and cleared her throat, suddenly finding it difficult to look anybody in the face. Draco began rubbing her back. "It's okay Nelly." He said softly and Cornelia squirmed away from him.</p><p>"Okay but then what? I don't remember a dementor coming in!" She snapped, sounding much more like herself again.</p><p>"Well trust me, it did. And it liked you." Blaise couldn't hide his shudder.</p><p>The sound of the door clicking open drew all of their attention, and Cornelia shifted in an attempt to get up before whoever it was saw her there on the floor. To their surprise, it wasn't a student that peered in around the door, but an older slightly dishevelled looking man with a long red scar across his face. He took one look at Cornelia and slid into the room with a warm smile, closing the door behind him.</p><p>"It's alright." He ushered Cornelia to stay still as she struggled to stand, and instead squatted to be more on her level, rifling in his pockets. "Terrible creatures, dementors, but they're gone now." His voice wasn't patronising or worried, rather it was amiable and full of character, as if they were friends already. "Here, this will make you feel a little stronger." He held out a slab of what looked like chocolate that he had just pulled from his pocket, but Cornelia didn't move to take it.</p><p>"Who are you?" Draco asked rudely, but the man just shook the chocolate at Cornelia, his eyes crinkled in a kind smile.</p><p>"I'm your new Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor, so I can assure you needn't worry about eating this. Although it does well to be wary of strangers sometimes."</p><p>Cornelia slowly took the chocolate from him, and all eyes were on her as she nibbled the end. She held this strange new Professor's gaze, and he looked pleased as she took another, larger, bite of the chocolate. It was chocolate alright, it tasted just like the standard milk variety but there was something about the sensation of eating it, something beyond the flavour. As the chocolate melted on her tongue it spread from her mouth, down her neck and through her limbs. The shivery feeling subsided incredibly quickly with every bite and to her amazement she found that the Professor hadn't been exaggerating. She gave him a tiny, almost imperceptible smile, which he returned with a further crinkling of his eyes more than anything.</p><p>"Very good. Right, well I must see to the driver. Enjoy the rest of your journey." He said as he rose back to his feet, casting his eyes over them all once more before he closed the door behind him.</p><p>Silence fell over the room in the Professor's absence, and Cornelia pushed up to her feet, sitting beside Draco who followed her every move with his hands as if to catch her. Cornelia noticed that all the boys eyes were on her, identical looks of concern upon their faces. It was embarrassing.</p><p>"Why do you think the dementors were on the train?" She asked into the quiet, her tone falsely cheery.</p><p>"I'd bet they were checking the train for Sirius Black." Blaise answered quickly, his voice a reflection of her own. They made brief eye contact before both looking shyly away. She was surprised he was still here to be honest, and suddenly the realisation that he was probably only sticking with her out of pity dropped icily into her stomach. She had to say something, she had to come up with an excuse for her panic attack.</p><p>As she cleared her throat, three pairs of anxious eyes swivelled in her direction again. "Listen, er – <em>that… </em>earlier, it wasn't a, you know, a panic attack." She stumbled over her words, and the little glance between Theodore and Draco didn't escape her attention. "No really. I'm erm, I'm on my period and it just really hurt." She finished lamely, praying that they would just shy away from any mention of periods and drop it entirely. Theodore's mouth dropped open slightly and he gave her a very obviously disbelieving stare.</p><p>"You mean you were crying because you were in pain?" Draco asked slowly, and she realised very quickly that she wasn't fooling any of them. Still, she'd come too far to back down now, so she nodded and forced a smile on her face.</p><p>"Yep, that's all."</p><p>Theodore and Draco shared a very obvious baffled look now and Cornelia bristled. "You guys wouldn't get it. It fucking hurts!"</p><p>Once again that awkward stillness fell over them as Cornelia nursed her annoyance that none of them had believed her, admittedly rather pathetic, excuse.</p><p>"I'm sorry Cornelia." Blaise suddenly spoke, and it was the first time she had ever heard him apologise for anything. "Mother told me not to mention what happened on the Platform, she made me promise actually. I shouldn't have pushed it when I came in." He looked very similar to Rosalind in that moment, his eyes burning with a similar passion that she had seen in hers earlier that day, and her heart hiccuped slightly. Still the tight coil of shame at her breakdown lashed out at his words and she shook her head violently.</p><p>"Nope, it was nothing to do with that!" She insisted.</p><p>"Nelly…" Draco murmured softly beside her, trying to tempt her into giving up the act.</p><p>"I'm fine okay?!" She squawked, her eyes flashing and fists tightening on her dress, before realising the irony of her words matched with her tone and attempted to force a smile on her face and soften her voice. "Really I'm fine."</p><p>It was obvious that none of them believed her, but they all knew better than to press her and so her words were met with stiff nods and shifty eyes. She fought to staunch the fury uncoiling within her.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Wow DRAMA! I didn't plan any of that confrontation between Rosalind and the Malfoys and yet here we are. It just didn't make sense that Rosalind wouldn't recognise the signs of Cornelia being physically abused and not say something - it always confused me that the Weasleys (especially Molly) never said anything to the Dursleys when they saw them.</p><p>And of course, here is Lupin. I fucking love that man. I just love him. That is all.</p><p>Until next time.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0020"><h2>20. Chaos</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>T/W - Panic attacks and thoughts of suicide</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Blaise was the one that reported the news that was spreading through the train – Harry Potter had fainted because of the dementors. Where this statement was sure to have usually gotten a good laugh out of them all, instead there was yet another uncomfortable silence as all eyes turned to Cornelia before quickly darting away. She vowed to herself in that moment to never let her emotions run away with her in front of anyone again, she couldn't stand this pussyfooting around her.</p><p>This annoyance was cemented within her when they finally arrived at Hogwarts, stomachs growling and amongst the throng making their way to the Great Hall, when a familiar curt voice called across the entrance hall.</p><p>"Potter, Granger, Lestrange – to me please!"</p><p>Professor Mcgonagall was stood as prim and stern as ever upon the steps of the enormous staircase in the centre of the hall, her sharp bespectacled eyes upon Cornelia. Draco made as if to follow her, but she shooed him away, pushing him away to join Blaise and Theodore into the Great Hall.</p><p>Cornelia was quick to gather what was going on as soon as her name had been paired with Potter's, but judging by his confused expression it seemed he either hadn't heard the news of Cornelia's reaction to the dementors or he wasn't as quick on the uptake – either could have been possible. He and Hermione were eyeing Cornelia, and where there would usually be a look of dislike, something new had taken its place. Cornelia kept her expression neutral whilst her insides twisted furiously – was that pity in their eyes?</p><p>Mcgonagall led them up the staircase and into what Cornelia knew was her office, having spent plenty of time doing detention in it. She motioned for the three of them to take a seat in the three squishy armchairs that had suddenly appeared before her desk, and they all sat in unison, Cornelia pulling her chair further to the right away from Granger.</p><p>"Professor Lupin sent an owl to say you were both taken ill on the train Potter and Lestrange."</p><p>Well, one way or another the cat was out of the bag now. Harry and Hermione's eyes were upon her again, surprised and staring, but Cornelia kept her gaze ahead on Mcgonagall, imagining she was a brick wall and devoid of emotion. That was when Madam Pomfrey bustled into the room, and despite her best efforts Cornelia couldn't help the short sigh that escaped her. All this bother over nothing. If anything, the dementors had done her a favour as she remembered it! What was worse was that it would be fuelling the sympathy she was convinced had sparked in Harry and Hermione after watching the drama unfold on the platform earlier that day.</p><p>It seemed Harry was also unhappy about the fuss and he began to object, his face turning red. Not that it made any difference and Madam Pomfrey placed a hand against his forehead, claiming he was clammy. When she turned to tend to Cornelia, she flinched forcefully away from her hand and spat "Don't touch me!"</p><p>Madam Pomfrey recoiled a little in shock and Mcgonagall's voice was sharp and disapproving. "Sit still Cornelia!" It sounded so similar to something Aunt Cissy would tell her to do that any decision Cornelia was about to make was suddenly flung out of the window, and, as if like a puppet on a string, her body rejecting the command entirely.</p><p>She shot from her seat which fell back with a bang causing Potter and Granger to wince away from her and the noise. Madam Pomfrey took a couple of steps away from her, looking at her as if she had sprung two heads, but Professor Mcgonagall just sighed. "Are you going to cause trouble before term has even begun Miss Lestrange?"</p><p>After a few moments Cornelia regained control of her mind, glancing behind her at the mild destruction she had caused and feeling peculiarly disorientated. "I don't need examining." She spoke woodenly, staring defiantly at Mcgonagall who was observing her with a calculating gaze. She didn't know why but her body was screaming at her that it did not want to be touched, the very thought of it was making her already frayed nerves buzz anxiously. She quivered with it, feeling oddly lightweight as if she could simply jump in the air and not come back down… or like she could punch a hole through the stone walls of the office.</p><p>"Professor Lupin said –"</p><p>"I don't care! I'm telling you not. To. Touch. Me!" She growled.</p><p>Professor Mcgonagall and Madam Pomfrey exchanged meaningful glances and Pomfrey murmured "perhaps she's still in shock?"</p><p>"I AM NOT!" The scream tore from Cornelia, and within it all of her pent-up annoyance at how carefully the boys had been handling her since her 'panic attack', and her anxiety that that was how the rest of the students would be viewing her after Rosalind's performance on the platform, spilled into the words.</p><p>To her surprise, Mcgonagall didn't blow up in the face of her outburst and instead shook her head minutely at Madam Pomfrey, who was staring at her for guidance, only a faint crease between her brows indicating she had registered Cornelia's scream at all. Potter and Granger were also staring at her like she was completely insane and the whole situation was making her feel extremely claustrophobic.</p><p>"W-well. At the very least you both need some chocolate!" Madam Pomfrey huffed, obviously as confused by Mcgonagall's lack of punishment at Cornelia's behaviour as Cornelia herself.</p><p>"Professor Lupin already gave us some chocolate on the train." Harry said with quiet urgency, continuing to eye Cornelia nervously. It seemed he wanted to be away from her as soon as possible.</p><p>"Well it's about time we had a Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher who knows his remedies!" Madam Pomfrey's voice was bright, as if she were attempting to lighten the mood; it fell flat however and a chilly silence spread through the otherwise warm room.</p><p>"Are you sure you're both okay?" Professor Mcgonagall finally asked, her voice strained. Harry nodded earnestly, but Cornelia just hung where she stood, feeling ever more humiliated by her extreme reaction to a simple medical examination. "Very well, kindly both wait outside whilst I have a word with Granger. We'll all go down to the feast together."</p><p>Looking like he'd swallowed an entire lemon, Harry stood up slowly and attempted to walk normally around Cornelia, although she noticed he kept to the outskirts of the room and gave her as wide a berth as possible. Cornelia swiftly turned on her heel and stalked after him. She had no intention of waiting around for Mcgonagall to go down to the feast, and Harry didn't say a word as she quickly sped away from him and Mcgonagall's office. He was probably glad he didn't have to share a corridor alone with her.</p><p>Now nerves were added to the swirling concoction of emotions inside her as she approached the imposing doors of the Great Hall, muffled voices sounding from behind them. She stood before them for a few moments, staring at the brass door handles and studying the grain of the dark wood, before she finally plucked the courage to grasp one of the handles and heave it open just wide enough to slide through as discreetly as possible. If she had known the password to the common room she would have skipped the feast altogether, even if her stomach was empty, and just headed straight to bed. As it was, it was either attend the feast or sit in the freezing cold of the dungeon corridors for a couple of hours.</p><p>A few heads turned in her direction despite her attempts at entering silently, their gazes burning holes in her, but she was incredibly relieved to find Draco and Theodore to be amongst them, having saved a spot for her closest to the door. She slid noiselessly between them, but even with them beside her she felt like an intruder in her own body, as if she didn't belong here or amongst them.</p><p>When Draco sought out her hand beneath the table, slipping his fingers through hers, it felt completely alien to her, and she gazed upon their clasped hands dully. He didn't look at her, but he held her hand right up until the food appeared before them, only to let go after a tight squeeze. Cornelia felt nothing.</p><p>It was a grim meal. Blaise was nowhere to be seen, apparently having decided to sit separately from them, but Cornelia didn't bring it up. Neither Draco nor Theodore asked about what Mcgonagall had wanted, and between all the avoided subjects that loomed over them, there wasn't much to say at all. Cornelia didn't feel as if she could speak around the brimming chaos within her combined with a peculiar numbing of reactions to her surroundings anyway.</p><p>The chaos didn't settle after a night's sleep, nor did it after several. Cornelia trailed after Draco like some kind of silent phantom, simultaneously feeling nothing and too much. She didn't engage in conversation, didn't laugh at jokes, and when Draco or Theodore inquired after her, she simply insisted she was fine, eventually wordlessly abandoning them if they pressed the matter.</p><p>After a couple of days, Theodore wasn't there waiting for her when she got up and didn't seek out her company afterwards. She acknowledged his absence with only a slight tugging at her heart, before quickly stifling the sharp sorrow that followed, pushing it into the writhing cloudy mess of everything else she was suppressing.</p><p>Draco tried his best to include her in conversations, but she had never been very interested in what he, Crabbe and Goyle spoke about anyway, and now was no exception. After a while he gave up, simply looking at her concernedly every now and then.</p><p>Cornelia didn't understand what was going on with her any more than Theodore or Draco. She wrapped herself up in the almost protective numbness that had descended on her that first night at Hogwarts, terrified that if she let its cover slip even for a second, then all of the turmoil inside her would spill out, just like it had on the train ride. It almost got the better of her multiple times a day. All it would take was what she deemed to be an odd look from someone, or to be interrogated too intensely by Draco, and her heart would hiccup and searing panic would tear through her. In moments like that she would either remove herself quickly from the room and retreat to a bathroom cubicle or her dormitory if it was close enough and hold her breath until she felt lightheaded enough for the feeling to subside.</p><p>She felt completely out of control.</p><p>In her numbness she didn't have the energy to engage in lessons at all, never mind create disturbances. Maybe it was out of relief that she was keeping herself to herself, or maybe they too had heard about the suspected abuse she suffered, but none of the Professor's had brought up her lack of enthusiasm, nor did they mention her silent exits that happened every now and then in the middle of class.</p><p>It was all going quite smoothly, and Cornelia was almost pleased at the tight lid she was managing to keep on everything when something happened to shatter all of her hard work.</p><p>Cornelia had picked the same elective lessons as Draco for their third year which were Care of Magical Creatures and Study of Ancient Runes. It was their first Care of Magical Creatures class with Hagrid replacing the old Professor Grubbly-Plank, and Cornelia walked just behind Draco and Crabbe and Goyle as they made their way down to Hagrid's hut. The waning summer seemed to be in its final throws, and the day was comfortably warm. It was clear most of the students were happy to be out in it and the noise and chatter about them was cheerful. Cornelia thought the sensation of the sun on her skin was pleasant enough, all of them having ditched their robes and rolling up the sleeves of their school uniform, but she didn't join in with the chatter, and Draco didn't attempt to engage her.</p><p>He was currently speaking loudly enough so that Harry Potter, who was a few yards in front, could hear him degrade Hagrid and predict a disastrous first lesson. Cornelia barely registered what he was saying. She had been listening less and less to Draco as she wandered around the castle with him, and where his spiteful and boastful words would have usually had her squirming, they had no effect upon her now. Neither did she feel the urge to constantly be on the lookout for danger for him. She just melted into the background, safely invisible.</p><p>As it turned out, the lesson was a disaster, but Hagrid wasn't as terrible a teacher as Draco tried to make out. When he had a led a Hippogriff into a small yard before them all, even Cornelia's interest had been piqued. She, along with the rest of the students, admired the beasts glistening feathers, razor sharp pointed beak and intelligent, staring eyes. For a moment she almost forgot about her inner turmoil as Hagrid explained how to act around a Hippogriff and eventually called upon a volunteer. Harry stepped forward and Draco, who had been murmuring lowly to Crabbe and Goyle the entire time, finally shut up and turned to watch Harry approach the Hippogriff.</p><p>Despite herself, she felt a little nervous as Harry exposed the back of his neck to the enormous and lethal looking creature, it was the first true reaction she had had to anything in days. Still, she wasn't sure if she wanted to see a student be ripped to shreds before her eyes, no matter who they were.</p><p>With a collective ripple of relief, the hippogriff bowed its head in response to Harry, who slowly straightened back up. Then, extraordinarily, Hagrid claimed that Harry could ride Buckbeak, and lifted him as if he were naught but a toddler and swung him on to the creature's back.</p><p>Cornelia thought it was incredible when Buckbeak rose with powerful elegance into the air, expanding his huge wings and soaring seemingly weightlessly around the paddock, and it really was as if her troubles were forgotten then. Especially when it came to their turn to approach Buckbeak in a small group.</p><p>She remained with Draco and his cronies, stepping eagerly in front of them. Draco seemed to notice the burning enthusiasm in her eyes and stepped obediently back, allowing her to take the first try at bowing, watching her curiously.</p><p>Cornelia made eye contact with Buckbeak easily, much easier than she had with any humans lately, and his dark eyes seemed to probe through her mind. It was as if they could see everything and were unjudgmental about what they found. It was calming. She slowly took a deep bow, watching the Hippogriffs legs to see any indication that he had returned her bow. To Cornelia's excitement, he did! She rose and cautiously approached, extending her hand which she was desperate to bury in those thick feathers.</p><p>The feel of the sturdy and stoic creature beneath her fingertips was unlike anything she had experienced before, and the calm she had sensed in Buckbeak's eyes washed over her. She felt as if nothing else existed in that moment other than her and Buckbeak and she could have cried in relief at the respite from the chaos that had resided within her lately.</p><p>She barely noticed when Draco stepped forward and swept into a bow of his own, she was too absorbed in taking in the texture of Buckbeak's feathers, they were grey flecked with dark hues of navy, and soaking up his comforting gaze. Only when he dipped his head into a smaller version of Draco's bow did she notice Draco was there at all.</p><p>Draco stepped up to the other side of Buckbeak and began trailing his own hand down his neck, glancing over his back at Cornelia. She met his eyes and they shared a small smile, the first one in days and which felt unusual upon her face.</p><p>The blissful moment was broken when Draco turned his head and caught sight of Harry across the paddock, and never one to waste an opportunity, drawled "This is very easy, I knew it must have been if Potter could do it." He turned back as if he were conversing with Cornelia, but she had returned her attention to Buckbeak and had zoned out from his voice as soon as she realised what he was doing. "I bet you're not dangerous at all are you? Are you, you great, ugly brute?"</p><p>Cornelia had just opened her mouth to snap at him to shut up, his insult of Buckbeak finally striking a chord within her, but her reactions were slower than Buckbeak's himself.</p><p>In what seemed like slow motion, Buckbeak raised himself up onto his back legs, the muscles in his neck flexing beneath Cornelia's hand, and brought his front, incredibly sharp talons down upon Draco. Cornelia's mouth opened into a silent scream and she staggered backwards as Draco dropped to the floor, clutching his arm, blood already staining his white shirt.</p><p>Then it was back. As if with the impact of Draco's body on the floor, the chaos roared to the surface within her. She watched motionless as Draco writhed on the floor, replaying the moment Buckbeak had attacked him a hundred times a second in her mind. She had been stood right there, she had literally been touching Buckbeak as it happened. She should have stopped it!</p><p>These thoughts pinned her in place as Hagrid lifted Draco into his arms and carried him away up to the castle, calling over his shoulder that class was dismissed. She could hear his whimpers as loudly in her ears as if he were still on the ground right there in front of her.</p><p>Students were looking curiously at her now, considering her frozen stance and aghast expression, and their gazes snapped Cornelia back into focus. There was nothing between the chaos and the outside world now, her cloak of numbness had been stripped back by Buckbeak. She needed to get out of here right now, she was going to explode. Every thought of Draco was replaced with an urgency to find a private space, her mind now on the furious swirling pandemonium within her, clawing to get out.</p><p>She turned and stalked in the opposite direction from the castle, where the other students were heading, and further into the forest. Even in the glorious sunlight, the forest darkened the deeper she got. Sobs were choking unbidden to her lips, and no matter how she tried to keep them in, they escaped with alarming ease. Finally, she got to a point where she knew she couldn't stop it any longer and took a deep, ragged breath. With the exhale it all came tumbling out of her.</p><p>She sank to her knees and sobbed as quietly as she could, but she couldn't do anything to prevent the odd screeching wail escaping her lips. She wasn't in control anymore, the chaos was, and it tore through her veins rapidly, her arms thrashing out at random with the power of it. The act of pushing it away, suffocating the mayhem she felt inside with such force made its release even more fierce, it completely overcame her.</p><p>She had lost all sense of what she was upset about now, all she knew was that she hated herself, she wanted the pain to stop, she wanted everything to stop. Her whole life was one miserable chapter after another and all she did was leave pain and destruction in her wake. She was useless and pathetic. Lucius and Narcissa could do whatever they wanted with her and now this wild burning inside her could do whatever it wanted with her. She had no say even in what her body did anymore. She wanted to die.</p><p>It seemed to be the conclusion that the chaos had wanted her to come to, and now it repeated the thought with every lap it did of her body, increasing the finality of the statement tenfold with every second that passed.</p><p>Despite everything, she fought against the despair that stripped her even of her will to live, and her arms which had previously just been flailing into the ground changed their trajectory; she slammed her palms hard into her head, and then her fists. She wanted to beat the thought from her mind, but something about the dull pain of the impact both satisfied and encouraged the chaos, and she steadily increased the force behind each blow.</p><p>She was just about to aim another punch to her head when an ear-piercing bark cut through the motion, and she fell back to the ground with a scream. Her eyes snapped open and she scanned the area for the source of the noise. There in the gloom of the shadows, a pair of glowing eyes stared out at her. As she blinked furiously, scrambling to her knees and trying to focus in on whatever it was, she just made out the shape of a huge, hulking black wolf.</p><p>Amidst her broken pattern of breathing, she managed to gasp and tried to struggle to her feet. The world spun dangerously around her, and her knees knocked together with the effort, but she managed to stand, clutching the tree beside her for support, her eyes never leaving the wolf.</p><p>Her face was burning an angry crimson, her cheeks wet with tears and her nose running freely, but the instinctual reaction to danger had swept the mania cleanly from her body, and she was left gripped in a new, very real terror.</p><p>She didn't move a muscle, although tremors still ran up and down her body, and she struggled to quiet her breathing as she gaped at the wolf. She knew she couldn't run, she wouldn't be able to outrun it at the best of times, and all that was left to do was to enter a staring match where she silently pleaded with the wolf to not attack her.</p><p>To her incredible relief and astonishment, the wolf observed her for a few moments, and then slowly turned its back on her and disappeared into the trees.</p><p>After a few minutes of straining to hear even the slightest noise, Cornelia finally moved herself, taking a deep shaky breath and wiping her face on her sleeve. Her whole body was still shaking, but there was a new emptiness there where the chaos usually lived. She felt more alive than she had for a long time, and despite the loop of destructive thoughts her panic attack had put in her mind, she was glad to be alive.</p><p>This new realisation flushed through Cornelia, and she felt kind of insane as uncontrollable laughter bubbled out of her where the sobs had been just moments earlier. She was a mess, her mood fluctuating with almost nauseating speed and her mind reeling in the aftermath, clamouring to keep up. It was frightening and unpredictable, but right now all Cornelia could do was laugh.</p><p>She laughed until it hurt, fresh tears cascading down her face. She felt like she might throw up.</p><p>It was then that another thought spiked through her mind, a memory. Draco. Her laughter died a quick death on her lips and she staggered forward. She needed to get back to the castle immediately!</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Well that was a bit of a rough ride! I am really feeling for Cornelia right now and it seems a lot of you are too. She is hurting bad. She's struggling and needs someone to see that, understand and offer gentle guidance. Don't worry - it is coming.</p><p>So as you might have guessed that WAS Sirius who interrupted that extremely destructive panic attack! He might not have recognised her at first, but I am imagining that as soon as Cornelia stood up, Sirius will have recognised her. She is practically the spitting image of her mother. I wonder what would have gone through his mind in that moment?</p><p>Anyways I am truly looking forward to writing these next few chapters, it feels like we're really getting into Cornelia's story now (chapter 20 baby!).</p><p>Until next time.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0021"><h2>21. Poison</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It took Cornelia a lot longer than she would have liked to find her way out of the forest having blundered blindly into it in the first place. After no small amount of panic, she was extremely relieved when warm rays of sunlight cascaded through the leaves of the thinning trees and she could hear the distant shouts of students out enjoying the weather.</p><p>She took a moment to straighten her clothes and attempt to drag her fingers through her knotted hair before stepping out from behind the trees and making her way quickly up to the castle. She didn't quite run, but she was still out of breath by the time she reached the wooden bridge that crossed the border between grounds and castle courtyards, and she didn't stop to catch it, barging through crowds of students that were spilling onto the grounds to enjoy their lunch break.</p><p>She stormed the stairs inside the castle, a searing pain in her side and her throat dry but refusing to slow, until finally she stepped quickly over the threshold of the Hospital Wing, her mind focused and singular on finding Draco. However, when her eyes fell on the occupied bed with the familiar shock of silver hair strewn across the pillow, she stopped dead in her tracks.</p><p>Draco wasn't alone. Pansy Parkinson was leaning over his bed, her hand laid upon his unwounded arm, concern and desperation etched onto her face as she gazed adoringly into his face. That Cornelia could have dealt with, she'd known Pansy had been harbouring a crush on Draco since last year, but what she couldn't stomach was the way Draco returned her gaze with a soft one of his own, clearly relishing the attention.</p><p>Something clenched inside Cornelia's chest as she took in the proximity of the two, it stopped her racing heart and made a cold chill spill down her spine. It was unlike anything she had felt before and it was incredibly unpleasant. She wanted to turn around and go back the way she'd came, maybe all the way back into the depths of the forest, and she also wanted to hex the both of them in horrific and painful ways right there and then. All she knew was that she thought that soft expression on Draco's face was reserved for her, and she didn't like to share.</p><p>As it was, she didn't have a chance to do either of these things as her hectic entrance drew the attention of them both. Pansy didn't move, keeping her hand steadily upon Draco, a smug smirk creeping onto her lips. Draco's eyes widened as he took in her flustered appearance, but he quickly hardened his expression into one of dismissive disapproval and Cornelia's cold and heavy heart lurched inside her. He was angry with her.</p><p>Desperately swallowing the bitter taste of that inexplicable emotion that had hold of her, she edged closer to him, her eyes sweeping down to his arm that was encased in a sling.</p><p>"Are you okay?" She murmured quietly, firing looks at Pansy that very clearly told her to piss off. She didn't budge.</p><p>"What do you care?" Draco replied coldly, and his words felt like ice in Cornelia's chest. She stopped a good few foot away from his bed and stared at him, clueless about how to continue. After a few moments of silence Draco shifted and sighed, relenting slightly. "It nearly took my arm off." His tone was sulky and stand-offish, and Cornelia knew that he was exaggerating then. Still, she couldn't afford to roll her eyes and call him out on it, not with Pansy hanging onto his every word like he was on his death bed. She dared to step a little closer, much to Pansy's distaste.</p><p>"Where were you?" Pansy's voice was accusing and usually it would have triggered an outburst of rage from Cornelia, but her question threw her off balance as she didn't know how to respond. She couldn't very well say "off beating myself to a pulp in the forest" could she?</p><p>Draco, despite his own obvious annoyance at her absence, seemed to recognise her lack of usual fighting spirit and came to her defence. "It doesn't matter." He said sharply to Pansy, who looked extremely hurt as he pulled his arm out from beneath her hand and shuffled into a seated position, his eyes on Cornelia.</p><p>Taking triumph in his shutting down of Pansy, Cornelia approached fully now, taking a seat by his bed.</p><p>"Does it really hurt?" She let a small amount of light humour colour her voice, and it danced in her eyes as she captured Draco's clouded blue gaze. She could see that he was desperately trying to cling onto his irritation with her, but he was too curious and concerned as well as relieved at her eventual appearance. Not to mention that she was speaking for the first time in days.</p><p>She noticed his eyes shifted ever so slightly in Pansy's direction before he answered. "You try being hit by a Hippogriff and see how you like it." It wasn't a real answer to her question and Cornelia was a weird combination of pleased and disappointed that whilst he had clearly exaggerated the pain with Pansy, he couldn't do the same to her.</p><p>Pansy was now sat back in her own seat, watching the two of them with a nasty look on her face. Cornelia revelled in it.</p><p>"I think I'd hit you if you called me ugly too. Wouldn't you, Pansy?" She turned a sugary sweet gaze upon Pansy, who eyed her hatefully.</p><p>"I would never hit Draco." She returned pompously, and her words stung. Cornelia had, of course, hit Draco.</p><p>"Oh that's nice, isn't it?" Her voice dripping with sarcasm, Cornelia turned back to Draco who looked quite uncomfortable with the new turn in conversation.</p><p>"Erm… yeah, thanks." He mumbled, flashing confused glances at Cornelia.</p><p>They sat in awkward silence for a few moments, and Cornelia seethed as Pansy refused to move. Draco cleared his throat and sat even straighter in his bed, speaking loudly as if to make up for the lack of conversation between the two girls. "Father's going to be furious of course. I've made sure Snape contacted him immediately."</p><p>Cornelia flinched automatically at the mention of Lucius and then berated herself for her show of weakness. Pansy on the other hand leant forward eagerly and said "As he should. That idiot Hagrid should never have been made a Professor in the first place. He didn't even finish school!"</p><p>Draco wasn't paying attention to her though, her words seemed to make him uncomfortable as he watched Cornelia's expression darken, she wasn't even attempting to hide the loathing in her eyes as she glared at Pansy.</p><p>"R-right." He attempted a smile at Pansy, covering up that he hadn't listened to a word she'd said. "Well, thanks for staying with me, anyway." He blushed as he stumbled his way through his clear dismissal, stepping carefully as he tried to avoid offending Pansy or making Cornelia any more furious than she already was.</p><p>To her credit, Pansy got the message quickly and shot to her feet, attempting to arrange her features into what would be a carefree expression, but her cheeks were burning. "Oh! Well… it's fine." She spluttered before sending another vicious glare at Cornelia. "I wouldn't have wanted you to be alone." She said pointedly, and then turned on her heel and flounced from the room.</p><p>Cornelia and Draco both watched her as she left, Draco looking thoroughly disturbed whilst Cornelia was practically gleeful, grinning at her retreating back. Draco wacked the back of her head with his good hand and she spun back around, her eyes gleaming. Draco couldn't help the smile that tugged at his lips in response.</p><p>"What's your problem?" He tried to sound serious but failed.</p><p>"I don't know what you mean!" Cornelia leant forward onto his bed with her elbows and cupped her chin in her hands, batting her eyelashes innocently up at Draco.</p><p>"Yeah you do." Draco was smirking now. "Are you jealous?"</p><p>"Urgh, no!" Cornelia exclaimed, jolting back up. "Why would I be jealous?"</p><p>"Oh you know, Pansy fawning all over me." He sighed dramatically, but his mischievous smirk never left his face.</p><p>"I feel sorry for you." Cornelia scoffed, slumping back onto her elbows heavily. But his words had touched a nerve, why had it bothered her so much to see Draco and Pansy together?</p><p>"Yeah right." Draco laughed, and without thinking Cornelia slapped his arm closest to her which happened to be the one Buckbeak had slashed. When Draco winced, Cornelia shot up, fresh guilt soaring through her and began fussily apologising and tentatively touching his arm.</p><p>"It's fine, it's fine." Draco grinned, and Cornelia faltered when she recognised that the warmth with which she had caught him looking at Pansy didn't come close to how he looked at her. Without realising what she was doing, her hand went to his hair and pushed it away from his face. It was there, her fingers gently rested upon his forehead and head bent towards his where their eyes met, and time seemed to stop still.</p><p>His eyes which were so familiar to her looked different all of a sudden, as if she were seeing them beneath a new light. She noticed that the summer sky blue was marbled with flecks of navy and lilac and deep black pupils that stared with the warmth of home up at her. They were framed with long light brown eyelashes that brushed the curve of his brow bone as he gazed up into her own eyes, and she realised that they were beautiful. As this thought crossed her mind she wrenched away, slamming herself forcefully back into her seat and staring at her clasped hands before her.</p><p>Draco was the first to break the silence that followed, and in contrast to Cornelia, he sounded cheerful. When Cornelia stole a glance at him, he looked positively pleased with himself. "You know she wouldn't have been here if you had been. Where <em>were </em>you?"</p><p>"I was in the forest." Cornelia mumbled, still reeling from the odd moment that had just passed between them.</p><p>"The forest? Are you mad?!"</p><p>Cornelia met his eyes again then, one eyebrow raised in a way that said 'obviously'. Draco's expression softened, and he looked a little sad.</p><p>"Are <em>you </em>okay?" He asked and Cornelia shrugged before resting her head upon her arms on the bed. She closed her eyes and let out a long slow breath, relaxing into the mattress. Exhaustion was creeping over her and she felt mentally drained, her panic attack and dash to the hospital wing catching up with her.</p><p>She wasn't okay, she knew that. She didn't know when the chaos would return but something told her it would just be a matter of time. She had crossed into new territory in the forest, and thoughts like that didn't just disappear never to return. But she felt practically happy now, resting beside Draco, and she just had to seize that whilst it was here. She didn't want to waste this rare moment of peace by worrying about what lurked just around the corner.</p><p>"I saw a wolf in the forest." She mumbled sleepily into the sheets and Draco snapped his wandering attention back to her.</p><p>"Did it see you?" He asked sharply and Cornelia nodded. "What happened?"</p><p>"Nothing. It just looked at me and then left."</p><p>Draco released a long, weary sigh and Cornelia lifted her head to peer at him curiously. He was watching her with eyes that burned with a million questions, but his lips were pressed into a thin line as he held them back. Cornelia didn't take too kindly to questions these days. It looked as if he were just about to let one fly anyway when a commotion echoing in the hallways beyond the Hospital Wing drew their attention; it seemed to be fast approaching.</p><p>The stomping of several pairs of feet against the flagged floor got louder and louder and the angry hum of voices became more distinct, and Cornelia's heart spiked in her chest as one of the voices whipped through her like ice. Mere seconds after that moment of realisation, none other than Lucius Malfoy came striding into the chamber and Cornelia scrambled to her feet, every remnant of peace shattering in his narrowed cool eyes and clenched jaw that spelled trouble. In his wake followed a harassed looking Professor Mcgonagall, emotionless Professor Snape, and mean looking man in dark grey robes. Professor Mcgonagall was protesting loudly about something.</p><p>"-completely unnecessary! Professor Dumbledore will not be happy to hear of this!"</p><p>"Father!" Draco cried, swinging his legs off the bed and making to stand up, but Lucius's eyes flashed and he swept his arm in a sharp downward motion.</p><p>"Don't get up Draco." He demanded, his voice quietly furious, Professor Mcgonagall's words falling upon deaf ears.</p><p>As he strode closer, Cornelia staggered out of his way to the end of the bed. Lucius barely glanced at her, his eyes focused on Draco who sat ram-rod straight in bed, alert and excited.</p><p>"What happened?" Lucius asked barely louder than a whisper, and yet the words sliced through the wing, silencing Professor Mcgonagall.</p><p>"Hagrid brought a Hippogriff to class and it attacked me." He responded quickly. You didn't leave Lucius waiting for an answer.</p><p>"Now I don't think –" Professor Mcgonagall began but Lucius raised his hand so violently that she stammered into silence once more, outrage burning in her eyes and she glared accusingly at Professor Snape.</p><p>"What wounds do you have?" Lucius continued his interrogation, every syllable ringing with authority. Draco withered slightly beneath it.</p><p>"It tore a hole in my arm." Draco dutifully replied, his voice slightly questioning as he attempted to interpret what answer his father wanted.</p><p>"Can you use it?"</p><p>Cornelia, who was on the other side of the bed and, along with Draco, the only one who could fully see Lucius's face, noticed the minuscule shake of his head, more a tremor than anything.</p><p>"No, it hurts too much." Draco answered without hesitation, his voice unwavering now, his eyes burning with as much malice as his father's.</p><p>Another look just for Draco settled on Lucius's face, the tiniest upturning of his lips – a look of appraisal. It disappeared as he spun on his heel to face the other adults present, clouded over with rage.</p><p>"My son-" He spat "has suffered grievous bodily harm because of that imbecile you have teaching classes. I will not stand for this!"</p><p>Professor Mcgonagall who had looked slightly nervous at Draco's statement puffed herself up to full height when Lucius's eyes fell upon her. "You know yourself from attending here, Lucius, that there are risks involved in all of our classes. Draco is not permanently harmed. Madam Malkin-"</p><p>"How dare you suggest that loss of limb is one of the 'risks' involved of attending third year classes!"</p><p>"Loss of limb?!" Professor Mcgonagall scoffed, but Lucius turned towards the man that Cornelia didn't recognise now, his voice low and quick.</p><p>"You've seen with your own eyes what this maniac has done to my son. Not only has he impacted his education, but we are lucky that he still has his arm. I want him and that creature brought to justice."</p><p>The man steadily met Lucius's gaze and nodded solemnly at his words. "You can count on that, Lucius. Fudge will hear of this."</p><p>Professor Mcgonagall's mouth opened and closed a few times like a fish out of water before she gasped "This is absurd!"</p><p>"Absurd?" Lucius took a step closer to her, towering threateningly over her. Mcgonagall, however, didn't seem intimidated at all. "What is absurd is that that creature was allowed to teach in the first place. What is absurd is the management of this place. I will stand by and watch that old fool you all so dote on make a mockery of this school, but when it affects <em>my son</em> – I will not allow it."</p><p>Professor Mcgonagall had just opened her mouth to give Lucius what looked to be a severe piece of her mind when Professor Snape's voice slithered between them.</p><p>"Perhaps it would be best if we continued this conversation away from our patient? Rest will help to speed along his recovery."</p><p>Blinking furiously, Mcgonagall nodded curtly once.</p><p>"Shall we return to my office?" Snape inquired, sounding ultimately bored of the entire situation.</p><p>Sneering, Lucius turned back to Draco and placed a hand upon his head. "You heard Professor Snape, Draco. Rest until your arm recovers." His words were heavy with connotations, and Draco nodded, returning Lucius's sneer with one of his own.</p><p>"Yes, Father."</p><p>Lucius's eyes darted to Cornelia, and the glimmer in them hardened momentarily before he turned on his heel and stalked from the room along with the other adults. It had been a look of conquest, a confidence in the control he held over her, and it met with a flat and undeniable hatred inside of her.</p><p>It didn't take long for Cornelia to follow Lucius's exit and she was soon prowling into the halls of the castle, unable to remain beside Draco's smug side after his father's brief visit. She brooded as her feet carried her, the very sight of Lucius sparking a nervous restlessness in her. He was like a poison, whatever he touched or looked upon became tarnished, bending to his will or rotting away. He spread through Draco's very veins, conducting him into behaving just like him, his arrogance thick in his blood. She couldn't stand it. And she couldn't stand how much he spooked her, the unexpected visit scattering the brief spell of peace she had felt by Draco's side.</p><p>Draco remained in the Hospital Wing for the rest of that day, playing his part in whatever scheme he and Lucius were hatching with delight. Cornelia struggled through the day alone, feeling neither here nor there. There was a rumbling of unrest within her, but her cloak of numbness had long since been shed and she had no clue how to get it back. Instead, she hovered on the edges of the remaining classes, her eyes skittering against her will over to where Theodore and Blaise were together, seemingly oblivious to her looks or even her presence.</p><p>Ugly emotions gnawed at her as the day wore on, bringing a whole array of unwelcome thoughts with them. Cornelia couldn't, just couldn't, bring herself to approach Theodore and Blaise. What would they want with someone like her? She was terrible company, she had outwardly humiliated Blaise's mother, ignored Theodore for days and was constantly on a knife's edge. Watching them talk and laugh amongst themselves felt like confirmation to these thoughts, and it simmered like acid inside her. She was so lonely.</p><p>The next day Draco decided to grace classes with his presence once more, and where Cornelia was at first relieved, she very quickly wished that he had remained in the Hospital Wing for the rest of the week.</p><p>He had been in the common room when she made her way up to it that morning, and he was surrounded by other students. Cornelia's stomach sank as she made her way over to him, not in the mood to talk to other people, although that was nothing out of the ordinary. He barely glanced at her when she took a place just to the right of him, completely absorbed in telling a grossly exaggerated version of what had happened in Care of Magical Creatures and the damage that had been done to his arm.</p><p>Pansy was there, of course, clinging onto his every word and stood altogether too close to where he leant against a chair arm for Cornelia's liking. Where she might have done something about it jyesterday, Cornelia didn't want to draw unnecessary attention to herself today - her spirits were still dangerously low.</p><p>And so, she had trailed after Draco and his new-found fans into the Great Hall for breakfast and then again up to their first class of the day, all without exchanging a word with him. She tried not to look too longingly over at where Theodore and Blaise were sat eating their breakfast in blissful peace and quiet, and that heavy feeling of loneliness settled in her stomach once more.</p><p>By lunchtime she had abandoned Draco (who didn't seem to notice she was missing at all) and stole a couple of sandwiches away in her bag, taking her lunch outside. She spent the hour in her own company, wallowing in her misery, before making her way slowly up to their first Defence Against the Dark Arts class of the year.</p><p>This time, Draco did look up when she approached the line of students already waiting outside the classroom door, but now when his face lit up at the sight of her, Cornelia wished that he hadn't noticed her at all. She could see from the wide smile and the glint in his eyes that Draco was in high spirits, and she didn't have the energy to pretend that she anything other than fucking miserable. Still, when he waved her over, she knew she couldn't ignore him.</p><p>"Hey! Where were you at lunch?" He asked, confidence oozing from every pore, his hair oddly tousled as if he'd been dragging his fingers through it often.</p><p>Urgh. Was all Cornelia could think.</p><p>She shrugged and simply stated "Outside."</p><p>Draco's confidence faltered for just a moment at her tone, but then a hand appeared on his elbow and Pansy stepped out from behind him.</p><p>"You mustn't over-exert yourself in class today Draco." She tutted, and her voice was like nails on a chalkboard, even breaking through Cornelia's misery enough that she had to refrain from hissing at her like a cat.</p><p>Draco however just laughed and, indeed, raked his free hand through his hair. "I doubt I'll miss out on anything overly exciting. Have you <em>seen </em>the new Defence Professor?"</p><p>Pansy's answering giggle was nauseatingly high and forced. "I'm surprised he can even afford a wand!"</p><p>Draco agreed, and as the two launched into picking apart the Professor, Cornelia sank into the shadows, her eyes glazing over as she attempted to close herself off from hearing the two of them at all.</p><p>The classroom door swinging open shook Cornelia from her stupor, and the man that had handed her the chocolate on the train stepped briskly out, his eyes glittering and alert as they swept across the students in the hallway.</p><p>"I've got something exciting for you all today – this way!" He spoke as if it were just the two of them and he was sharing a secret, before turning on his heel and pacing down the hall.</p><p>Despite herself, Cornelia met Draco's ludicrous expression with raised eyebrows as they began to follow the Professor through the halls, but Pansy quickly engaged him in conversation again.</p><p>Professor Lupin guided them through the castle all the way to the staffroom, explaining over his shoulder as they went. "I came across this this morning, had to convince Snape to keep it where it was, it's a great opportunity for you third years."</p><p>However, when asked outright what it was he was leading them to, his eyes just crinkled warmly "Ah, you'll soon see for yourself!"</p><p>Even through her moping, Cornelia found herself becoming more and more curious the further through the castle they ventured. Professor Lupin had a way of capturing and holding attention; he seemed fuller of life than the other Professors', younger in mind and spirit and more on the students' wavelengths. She had noticed it when she had first met him on the train, surprised by how personable he was and how reassuring he had been, and she could see it again now – he was genuinely excited by whatever he had planned for them all.</p><p>Finally, they all filtered into the narrow teacher's lounge, eyeing the room suspiciously for whatever thing Lupin had mentioned. Lupin himself had placed himself at the far end of the room beside a large, very old looking wardrobe, a wide smile on his scarred face.</p><p>A hush fell across the students. It seemed everyone was eager to find out what was going on, even Draco and Pansy had fallen silent and were watching the Professor through narrowed eyes. That was when the closet beside him trembled as if something enormous had rattled around inside it. A few of the students closest to it shuffled backwards nervously.</p><p>Cornelia's throat constricted and sinking feeling descended in her stomach, she gulped as she stared wide eyed between the wardrobe and Lupin. She knew what lingered in the darkness within those walls, she had read about it when she was younger with a morbid fascination of dangerous creatures. It was a boggart.</p><p>Hermione confirmed, literally, her worst fears, and Lupin clapped his hands together in delight at her quick answer. He seemed completely unfazed by what lurked so nearby, practically brushing his shoulder against the dark wood of the wardrobe. Cornelia however, was not prepared in the slightest to face a boggart. Her mind reeled with the possibilities of what it could show her, and she was disturbed to find there were so many of them.</p><p>Had she always been terrified of so many things? She didn't think so. She remembered back to when she had arrived at Hogwarts and all she'd worried about was not making any friends and Uncle Lucius's punishments. She hadn't stopped being scared of those things, in fact, they had become even larger and all-consuming than they were before with a billion more worries spiralling off from them. The control that Lucius's punishments represented, the imprisonment, the fresh hatred between the two of them, his presence in Draco. Being alone because of who she was – bitter, angry, sullen and crazy like her mother. Her mother…</p><p>Her thoughts trailed off as Lupin ordered them all to form a line, and her classmates began bustling energetically around, shoving and crowding to get as close to the front of the line as possible. She wasn't amongst them, and she ignored Draco's hushed encouragement to get to the front, instead making her way directly to the back of the line. Hopefully they would run out of time before the boggart could work its way through them all. When she turned back to look at the wardrobe, she caught Lupin's eye. He had clearly watched her determined stalk to the back of the line, and he now took in her white face and thin-lipped glare with an expression that made Cornelia think that he understood some of what was going through her mind, even if that was impossible.</p><p>As the class progressed and the boggart shifted and shaped into student's worst nightmares, Cornelia shrank back even further, seriously considering fleeing the room altogether. Nobody seemed to have fears like hers. She watched as Ron's spider fell about on rollerblades and Parvati's snake became a jack-in-the-box and didn't find it even remotely funny, unlike the rest of the class. What would their reaction be when that boggart became Uncle Lucius baring down on her with a cane? Or her tearing her hair out or punching herself in the head to escape intrusive thoughts? She couldn't think of anything less amusing and drew a blank as to how she could make that 'riddikulus'.</p><p>She had just decided that she would save herself from that situation and indeed leave the room immediately when Potter stepped forward for his turn to face the boggart. An odd cry stopped her in her tracks, and she watched as Lupin flung himself in front of Harry, arms outstretched. The boggart warped and changed and eventually settled on a large glowing orb… no, it was the moon, full and bright.</p><p>"Riddikulus!" He bellowed, and either the confusion of the growing laughter in the room had finally become too much for the boggart or the strength behind Lupin's spell destroyed it completely, and it exploded into tendrils of dark mist that curled and disappeared in the air.</p><p>The breath whooshed out of Cornelia in relief at the resulting quiet and the threat of the boggart being removed, but she seemed to be the only one. Shocked faces stared at Lupin, disappointment beginning to grow on the student's that were just a few places behind Potter, and Lupin seemed to recognise that he had put his foot in it. Potter in particular seemed the be bracing himself against an onslaught of embarrassment and was staring stonily at the point where the boggart had exploded, refusing to meet Lupin's darting looks.</p><p>"Right, well, we're out of time with that! Don't want to have too much of a good thing!" He blustered and began ushering them all out of the room. Potter was the first to leave, Ron and Hermione in tow, and Cornelia caught the pained expression on Lupin's face as he watched them leave.</p><p>He knew that he had hurt Harry in his attempt to shield him from the boggart, that he had embarrassed him in front of his peers, and he clearly felt bad about the whole thing – so why had he done it?</p><p><em>Maybe</em>, a little voice in her head whispered, <em>maybe Potter's boggart might not have been so different from yours</em>. If that were the case, then Lupin had sheltered both him and the class from being faced with those images. She couldn't help but wonder if he would have done the same for her.</p>
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